Brace For The Massacre
by TheSirenMonster
Summary: Giving Waylon a voice, and mind, as he endures the horrendous events and torment by Eddie Gluskin. Waylon Park/Gluskin. Story contains abuse, torment, gore, shipping.
1. Breath In

**Waylan Park/Eddie Gluskin.**

**A fanfiction inspired by the DLC, "Outlast: Whistleblower," and by Butcher Babies song, "I Smell A Massacre."**

* * *

Just when I had narrowly escaped that personality disordered freak, I run into _the Groom_.

It was Eddie Gluskin, the captive man that was supposed to be experimented earlier within the base's laboratory. I had thought for sure that he was dead. Tubes and wires down his throat and through his nostrils, with my comfirmation to begin their twisted project, but, I was dead wrong. Just seeing him again, he looked as if he had risen from his own grave. A monster, wearing a worn-out tuxedo's waistcoat, formal pants, and a purple, tattered neck-bow. His face looked like he had been through a house fire, from the way part of his skin seemed seared off. His eyes were piercing through mine like dilated daggers. He looked like a _zombie_.

But he spoke coherently, shouting for me to approach him, if I dared, in a shamefully charming voice. He called me _darling_, actually, referring me to be his bride-to-be. I didn't know what his true intentions were at first, until Eddie chased me through the Female Ward, screaming bloody Mary, "I want you... to have my baby!" I could just feel the physical spill of color draining from my face when I heard those words. Did he seriously want to...?

I never stopped to even question it. I just kept running, as fast as I could through the thick halls and jumping over table-tops. Fucker was fast though, mimicking my actions to catch up to me. I swore, he was always close enough to wrap me in his arms.

I made a daring move on jumping through the opened elevator shaft, grappling onto an extremely weak ladder that broke bit-by-bit until it couldn't support my weight. I fell hard onto the wooden roof of the elevator box beneath my feet, letting out a blood-curling scream due to my foot plunging into the roof and a long slab of wood pierced through my shin like a hollow needle. God, you couldn't imagine the sheer pain ripping through my limb.

"Oh, God! Oh, God! Are you okay?!" I could hear Eddie's horrified shouts from above the first floor calling for me, as I mercilessly pried out the wood from my wounded leg. I could just feel my bone sever as I ejected the sharp wood out. "Tell me you're okay! I hate to think of you suffering without me!"

Tears welded up in my eyes as the pain bolted through my body like a blast of lightening. But rage also seared. I whipped my head up fast to see Eddie looking down at me, with the most worried look on his burnt features.

"Why... would you do something like that to yourself?!" Eddie worriedly implored.

And I screamed back, "I'd rather _die_, you sick motherfucker!"

Eddie was taken aback by my outburst. I must of broken his heart. "You'd rather..." He looked ready to suffer in his heartache. "... You'd rather die, than be with me?" He asked loudly. I didn't respond, out of breath to even try shouting at the lunatic a second time. His wide, saddened eyes then narrowed to a blazing glare, teeth flashing as they grinded together furiously. "... _Then die_." He menacingly decided in a hiss, backing away from the shaft-doorway to, likely, find another way downstairs.

And just as I thought I had outsmarted the bastard, Eddie played me. While he scoured the halls to track me down, I had jumped into a locker to hide in, thinking he would leave the area any time soon. Yet, somehow, Eddie knew exactly where I was.

"Mmm. Close. I can... Ah, the smell of my love's arbor. Darling," Eddie appeared at the locker's pried bar-windows, locking me in with chains and a padlock. I cussed at myself for even thinking I was ahead of his game."You can't hide from me." Evidentially. "You've made yourself a gift for me!" Eddie lowered the locker down onto its back, so that he could shove it through the halls more diligently, while I was banging on the closed door and screaming. He paid no mind to my cries. "A delicacy to be unwrapped... and unwrapped again... And savored..."

The terror that ripped through my mind was too much for me to express. I was practically paralyzed in utmost fear in that locker, as Eddie pushed through the dirtied rooms and halls to Hell-knows-where. I clenched my teeth together, unable to image my end.

"I know I've been... vulgar. I know, and I want to say that I'm sorry. I just..." He sighed, defeatedly. "You know how a man gets when he wants to know a woman." By know, he must have been hinting at being a horn-dog lately. "But after the ceremony, when I've made an honest woman out of you... I promise, I'll be a different man." He swore as he continued to struggle on moving around the floor.

I couldn't help but breathe fast, out of panic. "I'm not a woman, Eddie!" I tried. "What do you want from me?! What's your deal?!"

And to those very questions, Eddie halted his movements and peered through the locker bars at my petrified face.

"I want a family. A legacy. To be the Father I never had." My stomach made double-flips to his words, my jaw slacked and eyes wide as saucers. "I'll _never_ let anything happen to our children. Not like..." Not like **_me_**, was what he wanted to say.

Perhaps this was some sort of sick vengeance on me, after I had unwillingly helped in making him a test subject. He must have recognized me. Me, the man that could have rescued him in the beginning of his nearly demise... I began to slowly understand his desire to kill me.

Should I have felt sorry for Eddie? Of course not. But it was my fault. Mixed feeling eloped in my mind.

"You'll have to wait here." Eddie lifted the locker to stand upright again. When it was up, I was now faced with the eerie sight of a operating-saw table before me, seeing how the surface was draped in thick layers of fresh and old blood, shining brightly in the ceiling lights like a red velvet comforter. Severed arms and legs hung by chains from the ceiling tiles, rotten or fresh. The strong aroma of iron injected through my nostrils fast, forcing me to hold back my vomit as Eddie peered through the locker window again. "I know you're just as eager as I am to consummate in our love." He brushed his palm over the locker bars lovingly to me. "But try to enjoy the anticipation."

"Eddie, stop this, now!" I hollered as much as I could. "I know why you're doing this, okay?! But it wasn't my fault!"

"Here, darling," The nozzle of a hose poked through the bars, surprising me. "This will help you relax." He cooed, as the smokes of a blue-greenish gas spewed into the locker space, in my face.

I choked under the gas, feeling as if someone was strangling me until I blacked out. "Eddie..!" I struggled under the fumes. "Eddie..." But soon, darkness engulfed me in its fold. "... Edd... ie..."

Please, forgive me.

For twelve hours, I was out cold from that smoke. But Eddie never came back to kill me.

'Could have killed me, right then and there, but... He didn't. Instead of killing me in the vulnerable position I was in, Eddie forced me to witness his acts of brutality upon other men he called his 'darlings.' I would never want to insult a woman's process on birthing or bits ever again, after what Eddie had forcibly shown me. He used a machete into slicing open mens' chests and bellies, to prepare stuffing them with severed heads and limbs to mimic a birth. Eddie cut through the mens'... most sensitive parts, to castrate them and slice open their lower-half, as a way to mimic a woman's body.

I can just remember the hideous sights of Eddie using that very machete to jab the blade of the bloodied weapon into the man's body, between the testicales and arse. I wanted so much to run away, as fast as I could. Break out of that fucking locker and just run before he did the same to me. I screamed once time, banging on the locker door to make it tip over, but the heap of metallic junk wouldn't budge!

"Darling, please! Try to relax!" Eddie reappeared at the bars again, a 'comforting' hand upon the door. "You mustn't upset yourself, my love. Just think of what the Doctor said about stress and pregnancy... It will never do." He could just see the sweat upon my shining face at that point. He saw the tears prickle at my eyes, as my heart thumped madly against my chest as he tried to draw closer to my face. I visibly shook under his gaze. "Hold still now, darling... You won't be ignored for long now."

"... Let me go...!" I coughed out, feeling gas particles spew out of my throat. "... I'm sorry, Eddie. I'm very, _very _sorry..." I tried to speak to him like a normal person, man-to-man. I pried at the hope of some cohesive sense of normality in that thick, murderous skull of his. "I... I should have stop it, back in the console. I should have saved you before all this. I should have..." Right there, I saw a flash image of what Eddie could have been, had I saved him. He would have been under the exact same morphographic state just like me, but he would have at least been... _normal_. My partner in survival...? "I know you're only doing this because you hate me. I _know_ you _recognize_ me, Eddie. I recognize _you_..."

Eddie looked at me, with those shining blue eyes never blinking once, nor shifting. I didn't know if that was the sadistic look of harm or the look of realization. "... I do love you, darling." Eddie hooked his dirtied fingers over the pried bars of the locker. "Why would you say that I... hate you? I would never harm you in such a way. I only want a family with you! Please... don't cry now. You'll make me cry, too."

And suddenly, Eddie forced his hand through the bars to reach out for my face. I flinched and prepared for whatever harm he would have wanted to bestow upon me. But instead, reaching to my face, Eddie caressed the side of my face, stroking his thumb over my cheekbone. I flinched to his touch, even if it were harmless.

"You're an amazing person, darling. You're going to be beautiful." He said, as if to soothe me out of my despair. "You've always been the strongest. Unlike those..." He looked over his shoulder momentarily to see if any of the dead corpses were eavesdropping. "... You'll be happy soon, with me."

I physically trembled under his hand, accidentally letting out an open-sob. My red, watery eyes met with his unreadable ones. I didn't know whether I was being stared at, or being stared through.

"Eddie... I'm so sorry...!" I apologized one last time.

"I forgive you, darling."

A pang in my heart thumped.

"It is my vow to you. No matter what you become, or no matter what you've done to hurt me, I... will always forgive you." Eddie looked on at me now, a small smile played upon his ripped features, and eyes staring back at me lovingly. "Do you know how love works, darling?"

I made no effort to answer. How could I?

"... Me either." He chuckled delightedly at me.

Not only did I feel scared for my life, but I felt that shitty feeling of sadness cast over me like broadcast news on weather forecast.

It was honestly the biggest, and craziest, question to even ask, but... Did Eddie really love me?

"If..." I mentally struggled to even ask the serious question. "... If you really love me, then..." My shifty eyes met with Eddie's again,

"You wouldn't hurt me!"

I must have struck a nerve at that statement, from the way I saw Eddie's smile drop fast, and his hand that held my face flinch. I awaited his brutal answer of declining, to rant on more about his hallow duty in having a baby, a wife, and a successful marriage of some fantasy sort. I wanted to scream when Eddie's hand suddenly gripped hard at my cheek, his nails feeling like razorblades slicing my skin, but I withheld the best I could. What I couldn't seriously do about it was tell Eddie to stop digging his nails into my skin. He would have likely ripped off my cheek if he pleased.

"Darling..." Eddie chuckled lowly, grinning wickedly to himself as his blazing eyes flared something vicious. "... Do not... test... my love and needs... for you...!" He shoved my face back, to where the back of my cranium slammed against the metal locker wall. I let out a yelp, as prickly rust-curls smashed against the back of my head, causing likely minor bleeding. The impact was enough to knock me unconscious again...

It must have been another hour or so when I slowly became conscious again. The squeaky sound of the locker's hinges groaning stirred me awake. The hands that pulled me out of the locker and into strong arms told my brain to wake the fuck up.

"Away with you," I could faintly hear Eddie hiss, before kicking off the recent dead man's body off of the operating-saw table. "You were so ugly. Given up on love, you have... But, not my love here." Eddie placed my body down onto the operating table's long surface, delicately. I only began to groan and murmur gibberish - trying to make myself awaken and mobile - when I felt Eddie's gloved-hands on either side of my face. His right-thumb brushed up to my half-lidded eye and pushed up my eye-lid to see if I were still conscious. The blare of the ceiling lights shocked me, making me jolt.

"Oh!" Eddie delightedly grinned to my mobilization. "Awaken, now, darling."

"Gh..." I tried to speak.

"Keep calm now, darling. You're doing fine." Eddie stroked at my cheek lovingly, as he watched my unfocused eyes shift and gaze. When I tried another time to speak, my lips only parted slightly, giving up instantly. I mentally swore at my inability to do anything. "Do you request my full attention now?" He asked, almost mockingly. "Not now, love."

When I felt his hand at the zipper of my prison jumpsuit, I made a terrified flinch, my fingernails suddenly kneading at the bloodstained metal beneath my limp body, desperate to move. "No, don't..." I teared, trying to plea. "Please... Eddie..." My heavy hands, with all their might, lifted up fast to grasp at Eddie's broad shoulders before they fell. My teeth gritted together, hooking my nails into the fabric of his sleeves as I felt the relief of his hand yielding.

No. No, this man didn't love me. He tormented emotions with words, and I was just close enough to be caught in his snare. Eddie was hurting me to get his payback. I could almost feel the flare of hatred blaze from those icy blue eyes every time I made a noise.

Before my thoughts could continue to ramble, I suddenly felt the warmth of lips press against my own. My fingernails remained snagged at his sleeves, my hands trembling once more. God, he was kissing me. Eddie moved one of his hands up to my face, brushing his thumb over the corner of my lips. He forcably pried opened my mouth, and invaded it with more kisses and tongue. My soul felt really to rip out and run for dear life. I dug my nails into his shoulders when I felt his thumb hook over the side of my bottom-teeth, preventing me from closing my mouth or biting, as he continued to molest my mouth.

If he could have been any-fucking-body else...

My heart made a burst of fire to a sensual slide of Eddie's tongue on mine. He licked at my tongue and at my teeth, as saliva began to dribble out of my mouth and trail down from the corner of my lips. I shut my eyes tightly and tried to think of my Wife, Lisa. I tried imaging that it was her lips, her body hovering over mine. I just tried to imagine that her kisses were more rough, more sadistic, and more demanding. But, it wasn't working. Eddie must have been an expert smoocher or something, because everything he was doing to my mouth made me shamefully fired up.

"Darling," Eddie spoke against my lips, a thin thread of saliva between us as he moved his face from mine. "Darling?"

I didn't want to open my eyes. I just didn't want to.

"Such a pet," Eddie giddily smiled. "Eyes closed, breaths light. Listen, though," and there, I was surprised again by Eddie's hand slamming down onto my agap lips and nose. A cloth was there, soaked in something that could knock me out cold. My eyes snapped open and my screams were muffled. Eddie down at me with a smile, eyes wide and paying attention to my terrified face, to soaking that vulnerability. "I will love you forever."

I braced for the safety of darkness again. Only now, I couldn't run for cover.


	2. Mixed And Blended

**Of course the story shouldn't end straight away. I'm not giving up on you, buddy.**

* * *

"Come back here! You're not done dying yet, you _slut_!" Eddie shouted, chasing after the variant that sabotaged his chance on slicing my body open with that roaring buzzsaw.

That variant... I couldn't tell whether I recognized him or not. But, it didn't matter. He would forever be my accidental savior.

Once I pried myself out of the ropes restraining my limbs, I quickly rolled off the operating table and grabbed for my jumpsuit on the dirty floor. Eddie had removed my clothes earlier, to continue his little project with my naked form. Thank God he didn't pass it. I put on the jumpsuit fast, still shaking with utmost fear as I tried to pick up my dear old camcorder and hold it steadily. I let out a sigh of relief to see that it was undamaged.

I needed to get away.

But this entirely new area wasn't familiar to me one bit. Wherever Eddie dragged me to, this was a workshop from Hell. Dead men's bodies strewn on the floor so carelessly, with their bellies sliced open and genitals either butchered off or mutilated. I was appalled by the climbing amount of mangled corpses everywhere, how many lives Eddie has taken in such calm stature, and such a short time. Did he even know how many lives he's taken? Judging by the way the madman thought in projecting, I assumed not.

I scurried into the darkness of a large second room nearby, using my camcorder to navigate myself safely. Eddie may have been chasing that variant, but there was no telling when he would reappear-

"_Darling_?!"

I spoke too soon.

"Darling, where are you?! Come back to me!" Eddie's voice boomed out, scouring into the very room I was hiding in. His tall form represented in the opened window's moonlight thoroughly, giving me the advantage of sneaking through the dark, as he blindly hunted. "I'm _trying_ to be _patient_, darling!" He emphasized, with desperation in his voice. He was definitely on my ass now. "You can't move about with that leg, sweetheart!"

Shit. I had thought for sure he would have forgotten about my severely wounded leg. I tried to ignore his shouting, as I snuck underneath a sewing table to avoid his legs. He walked passed me, eyes trying hard to adjust in the dark. Wherever that variant was, I would have loved for him to come back and rescue me once more!

"Darling, please! Don't do this to me! _Listen_, I can patch you up, good as..." Eddie stopped to wipe at his wet lips with the heel of his gloved-hand. He then wickedly grinned. "... _Better_ than new!"

_Clank!_

Fuck, my foot hit a fallen tinderbox.

"Darling?!" Eddie quickly crouched to look under the table. Right away, he spotted me just three tables from him. "Oh, darling! Come to me!" He stood upright again to start off for the table I was under.

Panic rose like steam in my chest, as I frantically crawled out from hiding and started limping off towards the opposite direction, away from him. I wasn't fast at all, with this broken leg, yet I was able to outrun him. I looked over my shoulder to see that he was closing in, but wasn't running. Instead, he was power-walking after me. Motherfucking monster - he was enjoying my struggle, and he knew it! That's why he wasn't grabbing for me so soon!

"Darling, don't do this to me...!" Eddie tried to sound decent, yet anger was clearly boiling over. "Why're you running, sweetheart? Hm? Haven't I been _ever-so loving_ to you? Haven't I been more than_ fair_ to you?" I could just _feel_ his teeth gritting together as I never stopped to look back at him. "Why aren't you appreciating my attention? Darling? Darling... Whore!" He suddenly snapped, once I emoted into a room fast and slammed the door shut behind me, to slow him down for just milliseconds. "Love me, you fucking SLUT!"

My timing to escape that fucking maze of a vocational block was immensely complicated. I can't count how many doors I had to swing open, the rooms to plow through, and the tables to hop over. No matter the great lengths I took to slow him down, Eddie found numerous ways to stay ahead. I didn't even want my camcorder out to help me throughout the blackness of thick shadows, relying only on dimly flickering lights ahead of me as guides to hopeful salvation.

And just when I saw the escape through a broken window, I was SO ready to take that leap of faith. Just when my foot planted onto the wet sill of the window, a hand retched out from the dark and grappled for the back of my jumpsuit collar. I gasped out in sheer terror, as the strong hand forced me back into the room with vigorous want. I can remember the moment my back slammed onto the floor, forcing a yelp out of me, as Eddie quickly climbed over me to keep me down. Straddling me now, he gripped my throat with one powerful hand, and the other unsheathed his machete.

"_Fucking slut_." Eddie hissed furiously, pressing the machete over my throat.

My eyes widened when I felt the sharpness scrape at my skin. "EDDIE**!**" I screamed to the top of my lungs. "Eddie, wait-! Stop-!"

"You don't deserve to live!" He screamed back in my face, teeth flashing viciously like a wild dog. "You don't even deserve my children!" He gripped the handle of the machete hard, to where the fabric of his glove strained loudly.

'This is it,' I told myself. 'I die here.' I could feel the first slit at my skin beginning. 'Sorry, Lisa...!'

"I'm sorry." I whimpered aloud, picturing my Wife's face again. I imagined apologizing to her, as I felt blood trickle at my neck. I let out a throaty whine to the weapon's sharpness splitting my skin open.

_Lisa giggled delightedly to me, as I hugged her once more. "You'll do fine at that Mount Massive Asylum console, Waylan. You're the smartest man I know behind the computer monitor." Her smile was sweet, as daylight and flowers blossoming._

_"I'll try to Skype you often. Tell Paul and Henry I'll try to Skype at, uh... six at night, okay?"_

_"If they don't fight over the tablet." Lisa joked lightly. "But hey, listen," she kissed me on the lips. "I love you."_

"I love you... too." I weakly replied to an invisible Wife that degraded into the back of my mind.

And right there, the machete stopped. Before I could react properly, the machete swung off of my throat and was thrown across the room, blasting through an old vanity's foggy mirror. I jolted with a squeak when Eddie's body dropped over mine, eloping me in his arms. I froze like a rabbit under the wolf.

"No, no, no... _No_, I love you _too much_!" He yelled, his face buried in my shoulder. "You're hurting me, darling... But I cannot let you go!" He held me like this for a moment, clutching his hands over the middle of my back, his forehead rubbing at my shoulder to wipe away the beads of sweat. I remained trapped. But then, like clockwork, his hand suddenly traveled up to my throat and gripped it in a vice. "I don't even _want_ to love you." He lifted his head up to look at me. His blue eyes were like the blue flames underneath of the red fire. "Look at the damage you've caused, darling!" He shouted in desperate fury, his thumb pressing at an artery.

And for the first time in fourteen hours, I balled my hand into a tightened fist, and slammed my whitened knuckles at Eddie's cheekbone.

Though, it wasn't enough.

"Hahaha!" He barked out a short laugh. "Oh, darling! You see the glory, can't you?" He continued to cry out and laugh hard, pressing his foot down on my wounded leg as revenge for the punch. "Is this the glory of love, Jimmy Durante? Is this it? I must bludgeon my darling as she does to me, to show how much we fucking love each other?" He chuckled breathlessly. "God intended this moment, did he not?"

I didn't know what Eddie was talking about, or who Jimmy Durante was, but I wasn't going to lay there like a douchebag and let this lunatic win me over with another of his preaching.

Quickly, once his hand loosened off of my throat, I used both my hands to shove the Giant off of me, throwing him back as I scrambled up to my bare-feet. I attempted for the broken window again, as I was no longer fearful of jumping to a pit of pain. Better than being stuck with him.

But that couldn't happen, once Eddie ran at me and grabbed me by the shoulder, spinning me around to face him. He struck me across the face with the back of his hand, and shoved me down forcably to the floor. When I was down, Eddie proceeded to kick sharply at my abdomen and chest. As much as I let out mewls and yelps of agonized pain, Eddie paid no mind. He even grabbed a fistful of my hair and slammed my head into the crumbling room-wall. My vision was blazing in a foggy red, as black flowers bloomed at the back of my eyes to the numbing pain.

"Stop it!" I screamed, with both my hands gripping at the wall to prevent any further damage. "Fucking stop!"

"_You_ don't make the _rules_ here!" Eddie released his hand from my head fast to swipe his hands down at my wrists, pulling them back behind me to lock them in one gloved-hand, while the other gripped at my side. "A good Wife," he gripped my wrists together, likely bruising them, "must stay at home... and submit to her Husband!" He shoved my body against the wall and moved his freehand down to my wounded leg, and the fucker gripped at it mercilessly. I screamed bloody murder when his thumb dug into the punctured, bloodied hole in my shin, pressing at my shattered leg deeply to scrape at my inner-flesh.

I was crying now, stammering on any words to speak up. My opened-sobs were pleading for help. Anyone...

"Eddie...!" I croaked his name. "_Eddie Gluskin_..."

The sound of his entire name being announced rose his brows with interest. He kneaded his fingernails at the blood spilling out my wound, as some way to sign that he was listening.

I breathed in, shakily, through my nostrils. My heart was weak now. "... I said I loved you." I exhaled heavily, a tear rolling down my cheek. "... I said I was sorry, too... Why're you hurting me?" I asked helplessly, trying to look at Eddie with a halfway turn of my upper-body.

"BECAUSE-!" Eddie tried to make up an answer on spot. But, from the way our eyes made contact, he was at a loss for words. When his eyes met mine, a small pang in that cold-stone heart of his warmed. His jaw slacked for a moment to drink in the helpless look on my face, rethinking his actions. "... Oh God!" Eddie had an epiphany, blinking when he realized what he had done. "Darling...! I've hurt you! Oh, dear God!" He released his hands from my body, scooting away from me, as we both sat on the floor. "Your face... Your face..."

Bruises decorated my face, yes, follow by a new lovely hand print on my cheek that reddened like a tomato. The smack made me accidentally bite my lip, causing a line of blood to dribble down from my bottom lip. Eddie allowed me to sit with my back against the wall, as I tried to catch my breath.

"Sweetheart. My love, darling." Eddie petted the side of my face, as he tried to figure out what had just happened. Did he honestly forget?

I shook my head to him, before wiping away the blood from my lips with the back of my hand. When I looked back at him, I gave the sincerest smile I could manage. My eyes were bright underneath the ceiling lights. "Ed..." I then grinned with a flinch, feeling the bruise at my cheek disagree with burns.

Eddie saw this, and scrambled back fast to me, grabbing at my sides to wrap his arms around my back. He pulled me in for an embrace, engulfing me once more, pecking kisses at my good cheek, down my jaw to my neck. "Darling...!" He whined peevishly, curling up against my body as he continued to talk out his jumbled thoughts. "_I love you_. Let me love you."

"C'mere," my voice reached his ears, making him lift his head up from my shoulder. "I... love you, too."

And there, Eddie and I kissed. I could feel tears - real tears - stream down his deformed cheeks, as he continued to maul at my lips and mouth. I kissed him back, I remembered, and tried my best not to get lost in it, as my freehand searched the ground for something blunt. I could remember almost melting into the kiss as Eddie gave me a savage little bite at my bottom lip, and the way our tongues fought for wet dominance. What I could remember was that his lips were warm, soft, wet. Alive.

Sorry, Eddie.

When I felt the rough edges of a lone brick on the floor, I wasted no time on grabbing for it. I swung my equipped fist at the man, drilling the rigid edges of the brick into the side of Eddie's head. I hit him hard enough to throw him off of me, off my body, and jump back up to make my escape out the window. Eddie was almost out of it, but he could see through his dazed vision that I was climbing out the window sill.

"N-No, don't, don't!" He begged, trying to reach out for me.

But I jumped.

Landing down at the bottom of the vocational block building, I slammed both my feet at the brick ground surrounding a crumbling water-fountain. The bone in my leg punctured out of the ripped hole, and I let out a screech, falling back to grab at my leg. The pain ignited like lightening throughout my entire body, as I could see how my leg now looked jagged from the dislocation of my compound-fractured bone.

"Fuck! Fucking _fuck_!" I bellowed, holding my knee._  
_

"YOU LIED TO ME**!**" Eddie screamed out the second-story window I jumped out of. Through the welded tears in my eyes, looking up, I could see Eddie there. "YOU SAID YOU LOVED ME**! **YOU SAID YOU WERE SORRY**! ****BUT YOU FUCKING LIED TO ME!**" Eddie slammed both his fists down at the window sill hard, a couple of times, before pushing himself away from it. "YOU'RE LIKE ALL THE OTHERS! LYING... WHORES! SLUTS! USERS! ALL OF THEM**!**" He disappeared into the room, screaming at himself now for trusting me.

I let out a few pants, closing my eyes tightly as I tried to figure out how to stand. I forced myself up to stand, despite the stings of pain bolting up my body from my leg. I ignored it, knowing I couldn't rest now. I had to make one last effort into finding that fucking way out of this Mount Massive Asylum building.

But did I feel bad for tricking Eddie? His feelings? Honestly, yes. Honestly, no? Honestly... I didn't know he had feelings.

But after I splashed water onto my face from the water-fountain, I went towards the door of the vocational block upon the rotting stoop, and reached for the knob.

This'll be my last attempt, Eddie.


	3. Stay High

**_This is a beta, so I apologize in advance for spelling-grammar gone wrong. Also for the long time to work on this. I'm typing via tablet, heh._**

_"You're gone, and I gotta stay  
High, all the time,  
To keep you off my mind.  
High, all the time,  
To keep you off my mind.  
High, all my life,  
To forget that I'm missing you."  
_

_- _"Stay High," Tove Lo.

* * *

The stench of blood and rotted flesh hit me like a gush of Northern winds from the Mid-West. God, it smelt _horrible._ But I needed to go back.

From what I could remember from the stretch of the asylum's layout, the Male Ward was much closer to the main exit of the entire building, meaning that I would have to hurry towards the ward and get through. But when I had found the linked-door into the Male Ward, I discovered that it was locked by key. Of-fucking-course it would be locked. It would be just too easy for me to escape without facing my mistakes, right?

I found another hallway into the vocational block, seeing that it was pitched in darkness. I took out my camcorder and turned on the night-vision to scour through the blackness and discover two more batteries and a written note left behind a dead man lingering in a small supply closet. It didn't seem to be anything that mentioned importance, so I saved the read for later. But from what I could seriously think about at the very moment, as I ventured closer into the base of the block, was Eddie.

I would of_ loved_ to have blamed my masculine desires for physical contact, but then I would be lying to myself as well. What I did back there to Eddie was pure, minor manipulation, to make him give in and let me 'love him.' I know I shouldn't have done that to him - playing with love and feelings as if they were a disposable plastic toy, but... But, what else was there to do? I couldn't let him harm me, more than he already did. He plowed my face into the wall, he kicked me while I was down, and he even tried to slice me in half with a buzzsaw. I didn't know what form of 'love' he was picturing, but it was likely pure imagination.

"Okay... key now, huh?" I told myself, as I made my way through a cluttered kitchen area, eclipsed in darkness.

I climbed through a pried-open air vent, passing by a dead body of a nurse it seemed, as his head was lodged through a different closed air vent, blood spewed from large, deepened slices in his head. But seeing dead men like him now, it was perfectly normal. As grotesque as it sounds, I wasn't phased by the sight... Not until I saw the gymnasium...

* * *

"That... fucking _whore_ of a Mother! She betrayed me, just the rest of them did to me!"

Eddie's breaths were heavy, as he marched through the composting halls and plastic rooms, slamming his fists into walls he was about to pass up. Every innocent dry-wall had a fistful of Eddie's rampant and destructive emotions. All those punches meant for just one measily person that ripped his heart straight out of his chest. After even being smashed in the face by a brick - that left a hefty reminder at his deformed side - Eddie still couldn't find himself hating his Darling. His love, Waylan. He cussed at himself.

"Darling..." Eddie whimpered in the darkness, standing in the middle of a pitch-black room alone, holding his red, irritated knuckles in one hand.

Yes, he knew that he should hate that slut now. He should be full of spite and rage, after what that whore did in tricking his feelings. He should have had the urge to strangle that crazy bitch until her head popped off! But... Eddie couldn't help but cry out for Waylan again. His unmoving heart behind the rust and bloodied grime was thumping for love, attention, and that gluttonous desire and need for his traitorous Bride to come back to him. Eddie rubbed his forehead with a frustrated hand, breathing in heavily with his large eyes closed.

In years, no one had held him like that.

The way those two were in that small room, next to the broken window, Eddie embraced Waylan, as he hadn't done during those hideous years behind a cell door and spongey room. He had completely forgotten what it was like to hold a person so close. How warm it felt to be in welcomed arms. And he felt Waylan hug him back - he did! - and just kept him wrapped in the pain-free state. Eddie could remember showering Waylan with kisses and tears, with his chest ready to burst open and his heart in his throat. Eddie wanted that feeling again, but, not with just anyone. No. He wanted Waylan back, to trap and love him all over again. And keep him.

'_Eddie,_' a voice suddenly spoke out. It sounded distant, as if it were out the room.

The Groom looked up at the doorway with hope. "Darling?" He called back.

'_Eddie, why're you talking like that? You gay or something?_' The voice became clearer within his plugged ears. And the voice was nowhere close to resemble Waylan's. Instead, this voice was low, husky and tired. All the characteristics that made Eddie's eyes widen with horror, and run for his life.

Oh, God... It was Uncle's voice.

'_Where ya going, Eddie? Don't ya wanna say hello to yer Uncle?_' That voice wickedly mocked Eddie, as he hid behind a torn-up couch like a child again. '_Come here, boy. Let Uncle hug ya, just like... last time, huh? Yer Daddy said it was okay!_' Eddie panicked, feeling his breaths becoming short and fast, as he could just feel that invisible force of his Uncle nearing the very couch he was hiding behind. '_Darling, huh...? Well, where is he?_' His Uncle's voice, drenched in anticipation and want, drew closer and closer...

"NO**!**" Eddie screamed, fighting back against that horrible voice. He stood up fast and shoved the couch forward with all his might, swinging the piece of sturdy furniture over onto its headrest and arms. He screamed more at himself, clamping his hands over his ears to draw out the voices. Rid of the ghosts from his past. As much as he persisted, those male voices were running around him fast, laughing, pointing, grinning. Touching. "**DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME, DAD!**" Eddie bellowed, swinging his arms fast at the air. "NO, DON'T-! THE OTHERS KNOW! THEY-" They were laughing.

'_Who're gonna tell, Eddie? Hm? Your teachers don't believe delinquents like you. Neither does Ma._' Father's words broke Eddie's heart, as the figure moved in closer. '_No one believes ya. Yer just a... fucking lunatic!_' He spat laughter straight in the Groom's face, teeth sharp and eyes yellowing, just like a pack of rabid wolves surrounding the fallen, lone prey.

"Leave me be...!" Eddie cried, shrinking down to a crouching form on the floor. "Oh, God... Where are you, darling...?!" All he could do was cry for Waylan's voice and face. He thought of Waylan's arms again, how he was clasped and held like a boy again...

_Ka-thump!_

A sound, not too far, thundered in the gymnasium, as if something had been tipped over or accidentally pushed. The spirits surrounding Eddie overheard the noise, and immediately evaporated into the darkness with hisses and growls. Eddie was left alone to figure out the noise, unafraid of reality's noises, instead of fictional ones. He stood up fast and ushered to the doorway of the haunted room, into the light of the spotlights that shone bright, white lights into a long-room that was set and decored like a ceremonial altar.

And when he looked into the room...

"UNGRATEFUL SLUT!" Eddie screamed, seeing Waylan standing at the altar, prying the Male Ward's key out of a standing dead man's stiff hand. Eddie flinched, his heart racing, so vigorously wanting to harm Waylan. "You're like all the others!" Tears were still pouring from the recent event of phantoms and delusions, yet he continued to chase after his darling, still wailing slurs and insults at him. "You belong with the rest of them! Lying whore! Filthy tramp!"

* * *

God, how did he find me?! I thought he was through with me!

At least I had found the key to the Male Ward. Now I could make a grand escape out of this living Hell. Eddie blocked the way out of the makeshift altar room, so I ran towards a narrow space that was squeezed tight with tall, cluttered piece of furniture. I managed through, evading a fuming Eddie for just moments. I had no time to lose! I needed to get the fuck out! I had to pull myself into the tight space and move a giant, iron cage out of the way of another exit I luckily discovered, pushing fast as I could before Eddie would reappear.

Once the heap of junk was out of the way, I swung open the door fast and ran into the hallway, with the camcorder's night vision flipped on to navigate through. When I reached a barricaded hallway, blocked by a long table, Eddie's glowing white demon eyes came out from the corner, his teeth flashing and snarling as he ran at me with unquestionable speed. I shrieked, turning fast to run through a random door, only to find that it was nothing but a clustered dead-end. Fuck, I trapped my own self in!

"All of you, whores! Judging with your swinish eyes!" He patronized on, trying to trap me in the room, slamming the door shut behind him. "You made me love you!"

"You said you were done with me, Eddie!" I retorted boldly, knowing fully well I may have struck yet another nerve. "Leave me alone!"

I jumped over a table to keep my distance, and Eddie went on the other side, huffing and seething. And just as predicted, both of us were running around the table. I was running, he was chasing. Kind of like what a sibling rivalry does, when the big Sister is chasing her little obnoxious Brother around a table for invading her diary. It was so stupid, it almost made me laugh at myself, how many times he tried to grab at my back with his opened hand. I swear, I thought I heard Eddie bark out a short laugh, too.

But the 'fun' came to a quick end when I jumped over the table again and bolted for the closed door. Eddie did the same, only when I got out the room, I slammed the door in his face, slowing him down some. I immediately hurried for the gymnasium again, ignoring the bodies hanging above my head, attached to the high ceiling with too many ropes holding them up like wet laundry. Blood dripped from the naked dead corpses, filling up the entire echoey hall with iron and death.

But I managed to get to the same air vent that got me into the gym, climbing up fast before Eddie could leech his hand at my ankle.

"I WON'T SHOW MERCY ON YOU!" Eddie roared, before running off elsewhere. I didn't know where...

Not until I found the Male Ward door again, unlocking it with the key, with the flood of relief soon to fade away when Eddie shoved me into the closed door.

"One more! I try," a punch in my face, "and I try," another sharp punch at my jaw, "and you all betray me!" And with a powerful shove, Eddie forced me through the double doors, back into the gymnasium, landing on my back hard with a loud thud, coughing out saliva. Eddie loomed over me, circling around me fast to stand over my head, now with a long rope in both his hands. "You can hang, like the _rest of them_!" He strapped the rope around my throat, fastening the knot at the back of my neck.

Fuck.

Using the length of the rope, looped around a floor-hook, Eddie pulled hard with all his might, anchoring me up from the gym floor, off of my feet, and into the air. I kicked and choked out, with both my hands over the rope to prevent it from strangling me, or rubbing at my skin. The prevention made it harder for Eddie to lynch me, as I continued to struggle with as much power I had in me.

"Augh...! Heavier than you look!" Eddie struggled, as he continued hanging me up, with the rest of his dead loved ones. He clenched his teeth together hard as he gave one last, strong pull at my noose, and heard the familiar clank of the rope and hook locking down together. He grinned victoriously to himself as he looked up high to see his handiwork on me. I continued to kick and fight, but my hands were going weak around the rope now... "Goodbye, darling." He bidded cheerfully to me, before taking a few steps away.

'_Look at that son-of-a-bitch flopping, like a fish outta water!_' The familiar tone of Eddie's Father returned suddenly. Eddie stopped dead at his tracks. '_Lookie, Eddie! Young Harris ain't swimming for shit!_' He barked out laughing, pointing and laughing at an invisible pond, at a young lad in the deep water. Eddie recognized the boy... '_You get in that water, boy, and I'll drown you myself!_' Father threatened a young Eddie, as he forced his Son to watch his childhood friend drown. '_Fucking queer, just like you, huh, Eddie?_'

"Don't call me that!" Eddie shouted at thin air. "Y-You made me-!"

_Ka-clunk._

Eddie heard a noise from above, and saw the most impressive sight ever witnessed in his time of murdering.

* * *

Haha! Waylan, his love, managed to swing towards another body and hook onto it!

Once he was on the other corpse, Waylan was able to unloosen the rope around his neck and throw it off. Oh God, Eddie hadn't laughed so hard in years. Now Waylan was like a cat stuck up in a tree, unable to climb down or attempt to jump for it. He just held onto the bodies for dear life now, moving from one rotten corpse to the next, as if he were trying to find an easier route down.

And just as he wished, Waylan grappled onto another body, giving it too much weight to support, and the rope snapped.

Waylan went falling with the body, yelling as he did!

Luckily, the body broke his fall, follow by breaking its own spine in the process. Waylan let out a loud groan, feeling his mind gone dizzy, and his neck angrily firing up from the rope marks. Blood gushed out of the dead body's compound-fractured spine that sliced out its back. And suddenly, Waylan could hear that very corpse... wailing, behind the duffel-bagged mask.

"Aahhh! AAHHH**!**" The masked man screamed to the top of his dried lungs, kicking his tied feet and wriggling.

"Fuck! Oh, fuck! Jesus!" Waylan scrambled away from the body, literally ready for a heart-attack.

Eddie thundered at the two, with a pipe he grabbed off of the floor. He stamped his foot over the bellowing man's face, and proceeded to pulverize him with the very pipe, smashing down his face with iron and boot. Waylan could hear the bones in the man's face crunch and shatter, eyes popping out when Eddie planted his foot into his face. The duffel-bag turned from white to a bright, leaky crimson color. Waylan, petrified, moved backwards fast with his hands, feet pushing him back frantically to the stone wall of the gym, looking on at the bludgeoned man and his terrorist.

Once Eddie was satisfied with the man's last extinguish of breath releasing from his raspy throat, he grinned devilishly, and gave one last blow at the man's face, before dropping the dented pipe.

"Sweetheart," Eddie slowly turned around to Waylan, breathing heavily and snarled. His right-sleeve and waistcoat were painted in red, glistening in the dim lights of moon from the ceiling windows. As he accost his darling fast, Waylan planted himself against that wall, ill-prepared for anything. "Let me tell you something... quite interesting, that I've theorized long ago..." Eddie dropped to one bended knee and latched his hand around Waylan's jaw, pressing his head against the wall. His dilated eyes watched Waylan's eyes grow wide, and mouth locked shut. "_When you love something, let it go_. Well, I tried once, and you still got away." He brought his face closer to his darling's. "_When it returns, put several blades into its head._ I tried hanging you, instead, and THAT didn't work."

And then, Eddie's deformed grin stretched across his features. "And if it comes back... Hurt it." He clutched his fingers down at the reddening bruises of Waylan's noose marks, forcing out a strangled yell. "Abuse it. Torment it. Make it want you." He licked his lips when Waylan gasped, fired up now, as he felt his heart beating fast in lustful desire. He wasn't a woman yet, but... "Perhaps I can make a momentary exception." He told himself fast, before reaching for another debris from the floor.

Waylan lastly stared into Eddie's face, before being knocked out.

* * *

And when he came to, the once software guy found himself strapped down onto an operating bed, stark naked and exposed.

"Oh, fuck! Not this again!" Waylan shouted, immediately trying to fight out of the restraints on his wrists, but he realized that he was held in chains this time, not rope. The bed had iron posts this time, and not wooden. Shit, Eddie had wisely improvised. The only new thing now was that Waylan's legs were hoisted up by more chains, by the bends of his legs. Was Eddie planning to do a thorough operation on him this time? Going to use that machete on his stomach and genitals this time? Waylan continued to struggle, not wanting to find out.

From how the room was layered out, it looked like the walls and floor were draped and covered thickly in plastic, like how the other rooms in the underground lab were. A pit of dread flooded Waylan, just seeing how most of the plastic was stained and smudged in old blood. Shit - Eddie wasn't kidding this time. He was going to kill him-

"Finally awake, dear?" Eddie appeared out of nowhere, making Eddie jolt and freeze. "I was just testing out this drill," explained the Groom, taking out a power-drill from behind his back. "This'll get the job finished." He pressed on the trigger to the power-drill, making the wheeling needle roar out with too much horsepower, whining and buzzing as it spun.

"N-No, no!" Waylan fidgeted when Eddie sped-walk towards him with the drill. "Eddie, wait-!"

"No, no more waiting." Eddie climbed up onto the bed. "I want a girl. A girl! I want a girl, goddammit!"

'_Do ya, Eddie?_' Uncle asked his looney nephew. '_What's wrong with this guy, huh? The way he is?_'

Eddie blinked a couple of times, staring straight through Waylan's face. "H-He's not a-!"

'_Fucking needy brat,_' Father shook his head at his Son. 'A_lways thinking you wanna girl. And fer what? To complete yourself?_' He scoffed.

'_Shameful boy,_' Uncle husked against a chuckle. '_Men've been showing you kindness for a long time, Son, and you wanna be so goddamn greedy!_'

... Greedy? Eddie?

That word stung deep in the distorted Groom's heart worse than a knife attack. Eddie remained frozen where he was, power-drill off, as his body hovered over Waylan's. His face was expressionless, unreadable. Waylan looked on at his terrorist and was caught in a blend of fear and confusion. Was Eddie having second thoughts? Waylan took careful, heavy breaths, too scared to even make a sound to disrupt the silence. Whatever made Eddie freeze was hope in the making, or maybe...

_Thump._

Eddie dropped his face on Waylan's chest, suddenly shakily hard, as if he were having a seizure. Waylan panicked again, kicking his legs and pulling at the chains around his wrists. Shit, was Eddie having an attack?!

"Eddie-!" Waylan helplessly called out.

'_You'd just wish someone else would understand ya! Ha!_' Uncle shoved Eddie.

'_No one gets it, 'cause no one'll hear it from yer own mouth, understand?!_' Father threatened him.

'_I know what you should do with the feller!_' Uncle wickedly cackled. '_Come closer, Eddie-boy. Lemme tell ya._'

"No, no, no!" Eddie suddenly screamed to the top of his lungs. He dropped the power-drill, throwing both his hands over his ears. "Get out of my head! Don't make me harm my darling! I'm not like you... you vile, filthy people!"

'_Liar**!**_' Dad smacked Eddie across the face. He furiously pointed Eddie in the face. '_You stand there, calling_ ME _a monster, but look at what_ YOU'RE _doing, boy!_' A finger pointed straight a growing pile of men's corpses, thrown and mutilated. '_You're fucking over these fellers, just like dear old Daddy!_'

"I-It's different!" Eddie tried.

'_Yer just like me and yer old-man, sonny._' Uncle mocked his nephew cruelly. '_It never takes long fer the abused to become the abuser, and yer a fucking classic, boy._'

"NO!" Eddie bellowed as loud as he could, lifting his head up to scream at the ceiling, at a man above called God.

Waylan froze to that scream, unable to seriously choose whether to panic for Eddie or for himself. Eddie's screech was powerful and piercing, to where he could have likely blown out Waylan's ear-drums. Waylan braced for it too late, now hearing ringing and buzzing blaring.

But it was not long until Eddie abruptly stopped, slapping his hand over his mouth. He sat, paralyzed, right where he was, clutching at his skin with his digits, as he slowly looked back down to Waylan. His darling. True love. Sweetheart. Victim.

"Darling...?" Eddie suddenly smiled in utmost satisfaction, leaning in closer to press his brow against Waylan's. "I promised that I would never let anyone harm our babies, correct?" He chuckled lowly, shoulders shaking. "... I would never hurt them... Oh, but... you, though...?" He exhaled shakily through his nostrils, eyes closed until he was smiling. "Let me show you what those people did to me."


	4. The Couple's First Night

**Minding my own business, surfing the Net for inspiration, I am floored with the Waylan Park/Gluskin fanart. And I, being the most nonchalant person and calmest of the family pack, proceeded to squeal and fan myself with sheer excitement. So, I saved them ALL.  
**

**The inspiration has power fuel now.**

**Warning: This chapter will contain mature content, such as abuse and male/male sex. You've been warned.**

* * *

Straining... the rope around his neck was straining hard. Waylan let out another strangled, throaty wheeze, unable to speak, as his face boiled red and his windpipe closing every second the noose tightened at his throat. All he could do was just clench his teeth together, and stare with a blurry vision, straight at the covered floor.

Eddie looked on at his darling, the length of the rope in one vice grip, as he tightened it more and more with every small pull. And he was smiling.

Out of those chains and shackles, Waylan wasn't out of Hell's bounds just yet. Still trapped in that plastic room, Waylan was down on the floor, laying flat on his stomach, and being strangled by Eddie. His face was shoved into the floor, with Eddie's boot on the back of his head to prevent him from lifting. Eddie's heavy body sat right on top of Waylan's back, mercilessly tugged at the noose until his Bride's face turned from red to purple.

And it didn't take long until Eddie could see the shades of color shift, and he released Waylan from the lynch. He laughed hard when Waylan tried gasping for air, gripping the floor with his fingers until his knuckles turned white. But one cough came out staggered, and suddenly, Waylan coughed and snorted out blood from his nose and mouth.

The strangling caused veins to pop.

Eddie clicked his tongue, displeased. "Oh, sweetheart, my love... You've burst." He sighed with a shake of his head, standing himself up from Waylan's back, stepping over the bleeding man. "I've just begun, so don't pass out now." He asked sweetly, as he tugged off the noose from Waylan's neck.

But Waylan felt ready to black out, from bolting pain flaring in his face. Blood was oozing out his nostrils. He closed his eyes tight to try and find strength back into his mind.

Until a hard kick to his face disrupted his meditation.

"I said don't pass out!" Eddie hollered, before kicking at Waylan's side to force the man over to his back. "Why're you just laying there, darling? We've yet to see the magnificence of the glass shards and whipping! Come now, honey, stop being so boring!" Eddie grabbed a fistful of Waylan's hair and retched his lover's head back, earning a grunt from Waylan. "Oh, look at how lazy you've become! Laying there, like a dog! Shameful Wife." Eddie scolded, before pulling Waylan by the hair, hard enough to bring the man up to a standing-hunched position. The Groom dragged his Bride into a secondary room, connected to the plastic room, to find his toys.

Waylan was out of it. He was too dazed and confused to even see correctly. All he knew was that he was bleeding, and the Groom was about ready to tear him apart.

"Stop it! Eddie!" Waylan spat out blood through his cries, hands clasped around Eddie's wrist. "Let me go!"

But Eddie didn't. No, he wouldn't. Not yet.

Once they were in the second room, Eddie tugged Waylan up to stand, and used both his hands to shove him into the wall. Waylan hit the wall - forehead first when he fell over - and nearly went out cold. But Eddie was right there again, at his side, with something heavy in his hand. It looked as if it were a... Hammer? Waylan couldn't react fast enough, as Eddie turned him over to his back. A gloved-hand grasped his own, bringing it closer to him.

Waylan gasped out when Eddie started to bend his ring-finger back with a bend of his thumb.

"No-! Stop it-!" Waylan screamed, fighting to tug back his hand from his Groom, but Eddie was not unclenching his vice. The bending proceeded, only now, Eddie was using the wrap of his other hand to bring Waylan to his mercy. Waylan felt it - the hamstrings outstretched and unable to contain the pressure, as the first strings began to snap like a row of wires holding up a heavy object. When his skin broke, Waylan bellowed, shaking uncontrollably, his heart rapidly beating as he felt his bone was next in line to begin the bending. He cried harder, clutching his weakling hand over Eddie's wrist.

But the bone wasn't breaking as swiftly as Eddie thought it would. So, that's where the hammer came in. Slamming his lover's hand straight down to the floor, making Waylan wince, Eddie put one knee upon the back of Waylan's hand, and brought the hammer-head over the injured digit.

"No! No, no, _no_!" Waylan panicked, frantically tugging at his arm to try and fight out of the hold. Miraculously, before Eddie hammered in his finger, Waylan managed to use his freehand to backhand Eddie in the face, releasing the pressure from his hand, and tried bolting. But of course, Eddie grappled for Waylan's ankle, and made the Bride fall forward. Waylan's forehead connected to a wall nearing the doorway to the plastic room, slamming into it with a powerful thud. That would leave a lovely bruise to remember in the morning.

"You...!" Eddie snarled, pulling Waylan in again to sit him up, and gave another smack into the young man's face. "So. _Fucking_. **Rude**." Eddie shouted, slamming the hammer down onto a nearby desk-surface. "I'm going to fucking put you in your place, and you'll fucking like it! ... WHORE!"

Waylan couldn't pay attention. He was crying like an infant, Holding his hands to his chest, not wanting them to be touched again. "Please, it hurts!" Waylan begged. "Please, stop it! I-I want to have them!"

"WHY?! Because you've found this other person more important than me?!" The Groom roared, pointing an accusing finger at Waylan. "Oh, I fucking _knew_ it...!"

"N-No, not that!" Waylan tried, his lungs ready to burst. "God, please, don't say that!"

"Oh? Defending yourself now, are you?" Eddie seethed, approaching his darling fast with feet striding towards the pathetic man. "I'll show you defense, you little bitch!" He thrusted his hand out at Waylan's neck, and squeezed hard at his exposed throat. "You WILL let me break those fingers... Or, else, I'll just break the _person_ you've been committed to!" He threatened so lowly, bringing tears to Waylan's eyes. He was about to insult him for crying, but then, felt an unsettling pang at his crusted heart to not hit bellow the belt. This is Waylan he loved. Really, _really_ loved. Of course he wanted to break him - out of love. He was doing this because he wanted his Bride to understand. Was that a crime?

Waylan tried to brace for the torment of being strangled, but instead, he felt the vice soften, as Eddie's fingertips stroked down to his bare shoulder. Waylan shivered, due to Eddie's unnatural feathery-touch.

"Oh, darling... have you forgotten that I loved you, too?" The sadistic Groom asked of Waylan. "I know you love this other person, but... what of me? Have I not been enough to also fill that heart of yours as well?" He brushed his fingertips over Waylan's lower-jaw now, bringing his face up to look at his. "Please, just... understand me. I would loved you just as much... if I could break those fingers - I know it'll hurt, but, trust in my words, darling. I'm sorry I wasn't cautious earlier. I was just so eager to break that commitment and make you mine. I love you."

And, quite sickly honest, Eddie was telling the truth. Through his own demented mind speaking seven tongues, he wanted this precious moment on breaking the spiritual and marital bond of Waylan's promise to this other person. Whoever it was, Eddie wanted to send out the most vivid message he could think of possible. _This is mine. This will always be mine. Your commitment? A thing of the past._

"I love you, too much, darling."

Waylan sniffled and hitched in his breathing, fighting with himself mentally. God, he knew these were words of a madman to draw him in and send him straight to Hell's fury. But on the other hand, within that Morphogenic state of mind, Waylan heard the utmost promise in Eddie's words that told him to trust this lunatic. Waylan's sane angel told him to break free fast before he would bleed, but then, there was that love-sick devil that screamed at Waylan to accept and forgive. He looked on at Eddie's blue, icy eyes, trying to search for the answer in them.

Until he smiled savagely, and nodded his head. "I love you, too, Eddie." He said uncharacteristically, bringing his hands from his chest.

Eddie's eyes flashed with a skip of a heartbeat making him smile wide. He grabbed Waylan's wrist quick and slammed it back down to the floor. He had the hammer, and this time, out of his back-pocket, he brought out an unpierced piece of tool called a sling-blade. Waylan's stomach dropped hard, his guts churned. Fuck. Waylan braced again when the sharpened blade touched his broken skin, and the hammer was readied to plow.

And just before Eddie reached to the count of three, he surprised Waylan with a slam of the hammer connecting to the top of the blade. The plow was powerful enough to help the blade slice through the digit's bone, and out of the other half of the thick muscle and flesh. Waylan felt the wind knocked right out of him when the back of his palm exploded with fiery pain, and blood splattering and spitting out of his severed stump. Oh God, he screamed bloody murder, tears spilling, face growing pale, and his Groom was smiling away.

Once Eddie threw the sliced digit across the room, he reached out for Waylan's other hand, taking by force when Waylan flinched and tried taking it back. He did the same process - hammer and slice - but this time, the blade's edge didn't go through the underside of Waylan's finger skin. Waylan was once again calling out Eddie's name and pleading to stop it, as his blood was spilling out too fast from his other stump.

"Please, Eddie, it-it didn't w-work. Just... s-s-stop it...!" Waylan asked wearily, breathing fast when Eddie brought his darling's finger up to examine it. And then, a new idea clicked in Eddie's surreal mind. He brought the hanging digit close to his face, and took a large bite at the skin that was left to hold on. Waylan felt the world go white, as he screamed so hard his ears were ringing. He tried jerking his hand from Eddie's face, but the Groom's chomp was tight at his skin. The Bride nearly choked on his own sobs when the Groom's teeth sliced through the hanging skin, and finally, his digit was cut off, now in-between Eddie's large teeth.

And from that, just seeing this, Waylan turned his head fast, away from Eddie, and threw up. He didn't know exactly what he purged, but it was greenish-yellow gunk. Eddie became fumed, thinking his Bride found him disgusting. He threw the finger aside as well, and attacked Waylan.

"Vile slut!" Another smack across the face. "_How dare you_?! How do I plan to kiss you with that _grotesque_ mouth of yours?!"

"... D-Don't?" Waylan weakly answered.

But it just gave Eddie another idea, from the way the corner of his lips twitched to a smirk. He eyed Waylan with a half-lidded stare, exhaling happily. "A clean mouth is a happy mouth, and I've something nice for yours." Eddie's hand outstretched to the top of a desk they sat next to on the floor, and pulled out a liter-bottle of bleach. Waylan nearly shit himself. "Open that willing mouth of yours, darling."

"N-No! Wait! It'll burn!" Waylan tried turning his face away, but Eddie held his jaw in place with a tight grip of his hand.

But just as the opened bottle was nearing Waylan's lips, it made a quick halt. Eddie had second thoughts. "Hmm... I suppose you're right, my dear. I mean, I would just despise myself for ever harming those lips." Eddie brushed a thumb over Waylan's trembling lips. "I should yield from harming your face. It's just too beautiful to mark up. Oh, dear," Eddie leaned in and gave a careful kiss to Waylan's bruised forehead. "My poor little pet. Such a child, in my arms." He cooed, trailing his lips down to place kisses at Waylan's closed, teary eye-lids.

Almost for a moment, Waylan felt like Eddie was a lover. The way he gave comforting words and kisses to appease his pain. He had even felt him wrap thick, ragged cloths over his bleeding hands, to stop the profuse gushing midway. But still, looking back into those bloodshot eyes, Waylan had to remember, as much as he would have loved to of forgotten... Eddie was going to hurt him.

"I just won't kiss you, then." He smiled. "Let's go back to one more thing, though," Eddie stood up from kneeling, and went to busy his hands at his belt-buckle, unhooking it from his waist, as he slid the black leather from the belt loops. Now, he held it in his hand, like a whip. "Get back into the other room, sweetheart."

Waylan was too scared to move, but too scared not to obey. The fucking psycho was going to whip him, goddammit! Any move Waylan premeditated to do would surely earn him a belting. Instead, he just sat there on the floor and stared up fearfully at his torturer.

And Eddie grew impatient. "Fucking move, **NOW!**"

Shocked by the raise of Eddie's voice, Waylan scrambled to get up fast on his feet, and move towards the room. But, he only took four steps, before being slashed at the upper-back with the belt. Fuck! Waylan let out a startled shout, falling over to his knees. It felt like his skin was splitting open.

"Did I _say_ you could _walk_?" Eddie barked at his darling, standing over him. "You walk again, and I'll break _both_ of your legs. Crawl, bitch."

Once back in the plastic room, Waylan had to sit on the floor and look back up at his Groom, with eyes lost of hope. Eddie looked back to his Bride, and smiled down at him, eyebrows rose with another splendid idea. Waylan saw the belt raise, and just as he predicted, another whip struck at his chest, follow by another at his left-shoulder, and another, and another. Every slash felt like a cut, and Waylan had to embrace it, that it's more than okay! He needed to say this to himself, or else the abuse would just worsen...

"Get up." Eddie ordered, ceasing the whippings. But sitting there, decorated in red whip-lines at his chest and shoulders, Waylan felt all his energy sucked out of him. "I. Said," Eddie slammed his hand over Waylan's head, grabbing at his hair, and tugged him upright to stand, "GET. UP." Eddie then threw Waylan backwards, onto the flat operating bed. "Oh, darling. How silly of you to not hear me the first time. You shouldn't daydream so often like that." He tightened the belt to make it snap aloud, startling Waylan to flinch and gasp in terror. He laugh at his fidgety Bride.

Waylan couldn't breathe. It was all just too much to handle on his own. He wanted to run, but where?

"Who is this other person?" Eddie suddenly asked. Waylan froze. "The one you committed yourself to. Who is it?"

"Wh... What?" Waylan panted, unfocused eyes looked at Eddie's.

God... did he know about Lisa?

"It's a woman, isn't it, darling?" Eddie's pearly-whites gritted. "Some other bitch to whore yourself to, right?!" He stepped closer to Waylan, nearing the bed dangerously every time and word. "I bet you've fucked her numerous times. Touched her, too, with those sinful hands. And... kissed her, too?" He climbed onto the bed, between Waylan's legs he forced open. "Yes, perhaps another woman to hurt and brainwash you... like the rest of them do... but I wonder," the Groom hovered over his sweetheart, hands on both Waylan's sides, "how she could ever make you feel... Good... Amazing... Desirable?" Eddie snorted a small smile, before swooping down to dot kisses on Waylan's reddened chest.

Waylan sucked in air, both in pain and... anticipation? He clenched his teeth and mentally swore at his body for betraying him, giving in some to Eddie's licks and touches. "Why're you doing this?" Waylan dared to ask, or speak up at all.

Eddie didn't respond, yet, as his lips brushed over a deepened cut along Waylan's shoulder. And sure enough, he bit down hard at it. Waylan screamed and writhed, both his hands gripping at Eddie's shoulders, letting out helpless whines. Eddie held his teeth there long enough for more blood to ooze and gush out. He moved his hand up to the blood and coated his fingers in it. Thick and moist, and Eddie gladly licked his lips.

He then moved those fingers down to Waylan's arse, and gave no warning when he shoved his bloodied digits into him. Waylan screeched, legs trying to kick, but Eddie kept them down, straddling his hips, and proceeded to prod him with his fingers.

Eddie immediately forced his fingers down, and darted right at a sensitive spot inside of Waylan. The press of his fingertips at that spot caused Waylan to stop fidgeting, and freeze up. What the fuck was that? Waylan felt a short-wave of something at first, unsure, until Eddie started petting and touching at the bundle of nerves again. Waylan's heartbeats felt dull, as his body practically had a mind of its own to writhe and rock against Eddie's fingers for more.

"... 'Cause you're my fella. My guy. _Mine_." Eddie emphasized the last word loudly, as he loomed over his Bride's upper-body to watch his face lax and twist in confused pleasure. He could just feel himself becoming harder every moment, pressing their crotches together. "I would _always steal you_ from any whore that would take you from me." His other hand petted over Waylan's cheek. "You understand that, don't you darling?" Another brush at that spot, and Waylan moaned out and closed both his eyes, his tensed body melting into the bed. "Mm, you're ready."

Ready? Waylan felt Eddie's fingers withdraw, moving off of his legs to start undoing his pants. Waylan swallowed back acid - he knew damn well that he was in no position to give himself like that. Battered, bleeding and broke. But, fuck, if he wasn't horny as Hell...

"Hold still, darling," Eddie nestled himself closer between Waylan's legs, with his own cock out and hard as a rock. Waylan felt the head touch at his stretched hole, waiting a moment for Waylan to realize what was about to happen.

But Eddie pushed into him anyways.

"H-Hurts!" Waylan cried out, his hands clawing at the sheets underneath his frail body, face churned in pain.

Immediately, Eddie held himself in place, not moving when he heard Waylan screech. He laid still over him, letting his Bride try to adjust to the feeling of a dick lodged up his arse. "Relax, darling," Eddie tried speaking through his lust-filled tone, eyes closed and keeping himself tamed.

Waylan didn't like this new feeling, but Eddie spoke of promise that it wouldn't hurt any longer. He should have shook his head, tell Eddie to stop this, or fight back for himself. But, after a moment, Waylan nodded with a grunt, giving Eddie the okay to continue.

Moving slowly, Eddie tried his best not to break Waylan. Once he moved out in a slow pace, he pushed back in fast, drilling straight at Waylan's prostate. Waylan gasped out in a blend of pain and pleasure, eyes open at Eddie. The Groom smiled to this and began to really fuck him now, holding up his Bride's legs and thrust at that spot that he knew would make Waylan cry out for it. For more of him.

And Waylan was at his mercy now, trapped between the bed and his Groom's built-body, and wasn't in any mood to fight back. Right now, he wanted this beast to blind him with the pleasure he has never felt before. God, how wrong it felt, but how righteous at the same time. He knew he could always kill himself later for it.

The two were unable to keep quiet for so long. Who cared if some variant walked in and saw the two men going at it like wild animals? Waylan wasn't as particularly quiet as Eddie predicted him to be, which just made him want more of him, kissing and stealing every sweet scream and cry of pleasure for more and more. Eddie was literally plowing into Waylan, with the bed groaning loudly in protest, and the legs of the bed squeaking as much as Waylan was. Bites and licks and kisses decorated at the side of Waylan's neck, sucking at his tender skin behind his ear.

"Mm, God, you feel so good...!" Eddie panted into his sweetheart's ear. "You're so tight and ready for me..."

"Sh-Shu-!" Waylan tried telling Eddie to be quiet, from how his kinky words were firing him up to being embarrassed and riled up at the same time. He wrapped his arms around his Groom's shoulders and clawed deep at his back, likely breaking through the tough fabric of his waistcoat. It felt so aggressive, so damn hot, and just too damn perfect. Waylan couldn't picture Lisa's face at that moment any longer. Now, he wanted to see Eddie's face, in its most vulnerable state as it was.

And he kissed his Groom many times over, with so much as to taste blood, sweetened guilt and death. And pure shame.

Eddie made a grunt, follow by a loud snarl, before gripping his Bride's hips and began plowing Waylan _hard_, hitting at his prostate mercilessly as the bed rocked and slammed against the wall. Waylan's arms around his shoulders and holding on tight while moaning and mewling loud enough to fill out the entire room, and Eddie was not going to hold back, not this time.

"I love you, darling..." Eddie rubbed his face against Waylan's neck, earning a loud moan from his darling.

And Waylan felt Eddie's hand unlatch from his hip, to find his Bride's hand from his back. The two locked hands, fingers tangled. Waylan took a gulp, eyebrows furrowed. "... Fucking love you...!" Waylan said, before his mouth was mauled by more of Eddie's opened kisses. And his heart fluttered, straight into his throat, because out of everything that he went through...

He meant it.

But just when Waylan was settled with laying on his back, they switched positions. Rolling over fast, Waylan was now sitting square in his Groom's lap, as Eddie sat up, large hands over Waylan's hips, legs spread wide to give his Bride more space as he felt Waylan exhale abruptly and grabbing at Eddie's broad shoulders to support him up as he started rocking his hips on Eddie's, breathing hard when Waylan clawed right at the back of his neck, leaving long, red lines at his flushed skin. And he loved it. "Darling-!" Before Eddie tried to kiss Waylan, he was suddenly shoved at his chest to forcibly lay back on the bed.

Waylan felt the Groom's dick move inches deeper when they switched positions, and he wanted all of it. He used both his bent legs to make himself bounce in the Groom's lap, and roll and ride him as much as he could, to feel the bulge of Eddie's length press harder at his prostate. Sweat coated his cold body, hands not seriously able to grip, due to the minus of digits, but he didn't care. He threw his head back and cried out to the ceiling, letting out vulgar sounds of distressed moans and gasps he's never hollered out before, to anyone else. He was such a private person. Eddie licked his lips, feeling _oh-so special_ to hear his secretive darling crying out for him, grinning wickedly when he felt those hands run up his chest and cling for dear life at his waistcoat.

"Do that... again!" Eddie struggled out, feet barely touching the floor when Waylan made a sensual roll of his hips. Waylan knew what he was talking about, and started dipping and riding Eddie's slicked cock like an expert lap-dancer. God, Waylan's hips were so damn flexible, as he overwhelmed Eddie enough to make the Groom roll his hips on time with his. "Darling... _Darling_...!" Both moaned loudly, Waylan close to his climax...

Their positions changed again - this time, Waylan was pushed down onto his stomach on the bed, with Eddie fucking him from behind. Waylan gasped out when he felt Eddie bite hard at the back of his neck, thrusting back into him with every sharp, punishing jab right at that spot. Waylan buried his face in the sheets, his own dick rubbing at the mattress deliciously. He's never been fucked like this before, and he wasn't wanting to stop. Eddie must have dreamt of fucking Waylan like this for hours, and wanted it, badly.

From the way Eddie was practically making Waylan and himself writhe, and from the way Eddie was drilling him straight into the mattress, Waylan knew this was it.

Waylan rubbed his face at the sheets, crying out madly when it became wet, more fluid for Eddie to move in and out of him. He never wanted it to end. If this was what insanity was like - to repeat over, and over, and over again - then he didn't mind one bit of letting go. Eddie continued sucking at Waylan's shoulder, leaving multiple hickies adorning him, follow by deep teeth-marks.

"Eddie..." Waylan gasped out, feeling that familiar churn in his belly warn him of his climax. "E-Ed, I'm gonna-"

"Yes... Yes, me too," the Groom licked his lips, continuing to thrust into his Bride's heat.

But Waylan shook his head, shoving Eddie out of him with a forceful hand. He quickly turned over and brought Eddie back to him with a pull at his waistcoat. He wanted to see Eddie's face when he keened. Eddie, panting hard, eyes wild and full of lust, understood, and eagerly thrusted back into him with a squelch, hips nestled together warmly. Waylan continued wailing and moaning out, head back and arms around Eddie's shoulders as his Groom kissed and swallowed at his shouts for more, more, more.

"Say it... Say my name...!" He moved his other hand down to Waylan's neglected groin, rubbing his thumb over the precum-head before stroking at it, and tugging at it fast.

"Edd-" Waylan pressed his nose and eyes against Eddie's shoulder, his body going rigid to the unbearable pleasure that was ready to burst. "E-Ed-!" He clutched his fist tightly at his Groom's back, and screamed, throwing his head back, "EDDIE**!**" and came hard into his hand.

At the same time of Eddie's orgasm, the Groom gripped Waylan's hand tightly and hollered out. "Oh-Oohhh, fuck! Waylan...! Darling...!"

And finally, the bed collapsed under them with a loud crash.


	5. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?

**CRIMMY THOUGHTS: Has anyone else heard of Amy Winehouse's 2011 song, 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?' It so beautiful...**

**I just want to say how much I appreciate the reviews and love for my fanfiction. I'm thrilled to see that you all love my story so much! When I first started, I had thought that I started off horribly with the couple in my first chapter. But I continued, because I wanted so much to fulfill the shipping legacy. Then, all your reviews flourished and gave me the utmost confidence I needed to go forth! Even if it's just been only five chapters, and even if I'm not the most perfect author I wish to be, your feedback and darling loves means the world to me. You're ALL my darlings now~.**

**I forgot to mention: everyone's "favorite" man is on this chapter. Siren, you doofus! Would forget my own head if it wasn't screwed on.**

**My mind is riddled right now with joy, haha. ****I'd best get on with my tale.**

* * *

I must of had my eyes closed for just an hour, maybe, before I woke up to the strange sounds of gnawing...

When I opened my eyes, I found that I was still laying on my back, still on that collapsed bed that was now sitting leaning back like a futon. I was still naked, but a thin blanket sheet was thrown over my body to cover up. My mind was groggy and my hips were stinging like Hell. God, what did I just get myself into? Even if I had fallen asleep, I could remember as light as day what just happened that hour ago. I laid my head back with an exaggerated sigh, rubbing my frustrated hand over my forehead - before flinching. Forgot I had a bruise on my brow.

_Never_, in a million-plus years, had I ever thought I would have sex with a man. Especially a psychopathic one, like Eddie Gluskin. I didn't know where that guy was, but, at least I could express my irritation personally without him questioning me.

Yeah, I knew exactly why I did it - all because I wanted his full attention - in the most brutal way. In the back of my mind, I wished to kill myself, but I would never muster up the courage to do so.

When I looked back down to my bloodstained-bandaged hands, I began to question my sanity, when I saw that my ring-fingers were gone, leaving nothing but stumps. I wouldn't be able to wear my wedding band for eons now. Lisa would probably hate me now and forever... I closed my eyes and silently apologized to an imaginary Wife in my mind.

_Crunch, crunch_.

My ears perked to the abnormal sounds of chewing in the second room. My eyes reopened, eyeing the doorway with confusion. Was that the sound of chewing? Or was I just fooling myself? I blinked when I heard a belch. _Gross_. Who was in the other room? Was it Eddie? ... No... there was nothing to eat in this place. But what was that gnawing sound from earlier...?

My question was answered when I heard the scruff of dragging-feet shuffle closer to the doorway I was staring at. When he appeared, eyes flashing first in the light, my eyes grew wide, and my mouth dropped open in horror.

"**Dinner bells!**" Frank Manera hollered through his bloodied lips, before switching on the buzzsaw in his hand. The circular saw roared as loudly as I could remember it on our last spat, when I had luckily got away from the fucking cannibal. And in his other hand, I saw that the man was chewing on one of my severed ring-fingers. That motherfucking monster...! "Feed me! Feed me! _Feed me_**!**" The thin man chanted madly, before thundering into the plastic room with the buzzsaw out first to ram it into me.

I held out my arms, blocking my face as I felt my heart burst in quaking fear. I let out a wail, thinking this was going to hurt.

But before Frank got to me, I was rescued by - no, not that unknown variant - but by the Groom.

Eddie had appeared out of a different door, out of a separate room, and saw Frank before he attacked. Eddie bolted at the cannibal and tackled him to the plastic floor with a roar, plunging him down, with the buzzsaw still in Frank's hand as the men struggled and fought. I threw myself upright to stand, with the blanket in my hands to cover my bare skin, feeling helpless on aiding Eddie.

What a ironic thought. A madman saves me from another madman. The logic was far beyond comprehension.

"The meat is mine! The meat is MINE!" Frank continued to chant out in screams, buzzsaw gripped in his fist, but his extended arm was quickly pinned down to the floor by Eddie's hand.

"Did you eat at my darling's fingers, you sewer rat?" Eddie asked none-too-discreetly, a sadistic smile twisted over his skin. "_Filthy_," hissed Edde, emphasizing the "f" sound through the grit of his teeth, "and so fucking distasteful of you to think you may have him!"

Frank, delusional himself to be inaudible, decided to speak with his circular-saw. He manged to retch his arm out of Eddie's vice, and plunged the roaring blade into his thigh. Eddie screamed out, as the buzzsaw's teeth ripped through his pant-leg and skin and flesh and muscle. Blood spurted and splattered. Immediately, Eddie slammed his hand down at Frank's arm, pulling out the saw, and delivered a hard punch into the cannibal's face to jump back.

"Hahahaha!" Frank barked out laughing instead. "Fresh, lone meat!" He stood up fast and darted at Eddie with the roaring saw.

And what did I do to finally help out? With the long blanket in my hands, I threw it out in front of Frank, and it grabbed at his face, blinding him to run into a wall instead. Eddie barked out a short laugh at my improvisation, whilst slamming Frank back into the plastic wall before the man could retaliate, locking him in a chokehold now. The buzzsaw ripped and pulled at the the sheet, able to tug it off his face after moments of struggling.

Frank cussed and threw out slurs of aggression, trying to fight back with all his strength, but the 155 pound lightweight couldn't fight against Eddie's 6-foot stature. I've already seen Eddie's body for myself - for an asylum patient, Eddie's body is extremely taut and built. Definitely a losing battle.

"No! No! You were MINE!" Frank yelled against the wall, with his head turned to face me. He frothed and snarled like a wild dog with rabies, making me back away as far as I could. "Feed me! You're mine!" He cried out hoarsely, unable to speak up due to the chokehold he was in. A tight pull at his head, and Frank dropped the buzzsaw, unable to hold it up any longer. The machine landed with a thud, wheels whining for the last time.

"He's MINE!" Eddie declared loudly, constricting his arm around Frank's neck more and more. "Bleed here, and die." Eddie lastly bidded to the thin man, before he gave one more powerful pull, and a quick twist at Frank's neck.

_Snap._

Eddie dropped Frank's limp body onto the floor with a thud. I could see Frank's scrawny neck was bent at an odd angle, skin red ad irritated from the fractured bone underneath clawing at the inner-flesh, and Frank's eyes were just barely able to blink, his gurgles sounding like the infamous death rattle.

"Oh? A fighter, aren't you?" Eddie mused, eyebrows raised and impressed. "Well, you won't be moving anywhere anytime soon. Darling, look!" Eddie suddenly called my nickname with a cheery shout. I flinched, startled, but responded anyhow. "I've found you clothes to wear."

"My jumpsuit?" I guessed.

"No, not that hideous jumpsuit again!" Eddie made a disgusted sneer on his face, imagining the jumpsuit I had worn the entire journey throughout this asylum. "Truth be told, I hacked up the jumpsuit and threw them straight out the window earlier on, just because I hated them so much... No, instead, I found these for you." Eddie went into the third-room fast to grab the clothes. And it was surprisingly not the bridal gown. Instead, it was a dirtied white button-up shirt and black slacks with blood stains coating the bottom hems. I immediately figured that Eddie robbed a Doctor's corpse for its clothes. Of course, I wasn't arguing.

I slipped on the clothes fast, adjusting the long sleeves of the shirt around my forearms and wrists. The pants fitted well, and the shirt also.

"Thanks." I smiled at the Groom. And he smiled back at me with those big teeth flashing.

And it clicked in my head. Wait - men's clothes? Eddie handed me men's clothes? It would have been a harmless coincidence of him to hand over those types of wear, but, it started to make the wheels in my head spin. Was Eddie beginning to accept the fact that I was a man now? Was he no longer picturing me as the made-up Bride he had imagined for God-knows-how-long? I mean, when we were, uh... getting freaky, I should say... Eddie said that I was his "fella," his "guy." He was doing me anally, for fuck's sake! He must have accepted it now.

But, I wasn't willing to ask him any time soon. I needed to let the question linger, as I marinated the small evidence mentally in my mind.

"Daylight's starting to look closer now."

It was true - the window in the plastic room was showing a foggy view of the courtyard outside. Beyond the horizon of the mountains and top of the tree-line, I could see daylight burning up high. Something in the pit of my stomach told me that we needed to get out of the asylum fast. Something didn't sit right, and I didn't want to wait and find out what the problem was.

_Smash!_

Eddie drilled the bottom of his boot straight into the crooked neck of Frank's, with a burst of blood ejecting out of the compound-fracture. I was more glad than scared, being introduced to too much of the gruesomeness whilst Eddie jovially smashed the neck and brains out of the man that tried to steal me. Of course Eddie was a fucking envious Husband. It was so blatantly sweet of him to do the job for me - how much I despised that fucking cannibal earlier on in my horror-ride through his territory. Thank God he was dead.

"Your leg," I finally realized. "Eddie."

"No need to fret." Eddie assured me with as dismissive wave of his hand. "It's just a flesh wound."

Of course I didn't believe the Groom, but I knew Eddie would likely get annoyed if I kept on insisting. So I left Eddie to flinch and wince as he struggled to walk correctly or fast. Heh. Bastard would finally know what I went through with that limp. Good.

Both of us left the plastic room fast, to find our way out of the vocational block. Luckily, we weren't too far from where the wired door to the Male Ward was, and Eddie was all the more the merrier to follow me into my ending. I was honestly surprised as to how cooperative Eddie was now, flipping like a coin from different personas. He wasn't lying to me, was he? To be this workable to tag along my trek on escaping the Mount Massive Asylum? I wondered - if he was - if he would try to stop me from leaving the giant building... Because I was ready to get the fuck out.

As we walked through the wired fence into the Ward, I could overhear Eddie humming a song to himself. His hand hung onto the tails of my new shirt as he followed behind. When I listened closely, I could tell that it wasn't that song he sung religiously back in his workshop and block. Thank God it wasn't - that classical song would forever be my haunting lullaby whenever I finish watching a horror movie on a late Saturday night.

"What's that song?" I decided to ask.

"I'm making one up." Eddie answered in a sing-along voice.

God, I prayed it wouldn't be another horrific song that would haunt my dreams for the next five years.

The two of us made our way through the narrow, clamored hallways of the Male Ward, while I tried to find a way that looked like daylight and an exit. I need out, fast. But, wait... Eddie was following me...? He likely hasn't been outside of Mount Massive Asylum in fucking years. I began to pounder whether I should bring the man with me. How would he react, if I had taken him out of this hellish nightmare? Would he even want to go? The Groom continued to hang onto my shirt-tail as we made our way through the halls, reaching for a closed wooden door.

When we walked through, it was a darkened room, with the interesting sight of orange light flickering from the outside of two window panes. I curiously decided to check out the strange lights that casted shadows in the dark room, and what I saw was a terrifying sight. Beyond the windows, a block from where I was, there stood a church, burning straight down to the ground. My jaw dropped to the ongoing fires that swallowed up the roof of the holy building, eating away at a massive wooden cross staked to the skies. It was now being devoured by Hell's fire.

"Whoa..." I could only manage out, seeing how this burning almost signified something important... Did those variants do this? A way to sign a new beginning to their lives? Or, the ending...?

Eddie paid no mind to the magnificent sight beyond the windows, still humming and minding his own business, completely unfiltered. He acted as if it were normal, not once making a double-take or halt to his song. I was slightly disturbed to even think Eddie was an avid church-demolisher. Made me almost picture Varg Vikernes in the court room smiling.

After a while of sightseeing, Eddie journeyed his hand up my back, to squeeze his hand around the back of my neck. Not in a threatening way - just as a casual touch. He then leaned in closer and planted a kiss at the side of my face, right at the corner of my eye.

"Darling, do you know what this sight makes me think back to?" He asked me in a calm tone, still smiling.

"Um... what?" I took my eyes off the burning church long enough to look back to Eddie.

"My vow to you."

What? I had thought for sure he would keep that at the back of his mind.

"I thought, when we had wedded, to tell you that, uh..." He drifted from his sentence, most likely forget just exactly what he vowed. "I forgotten the most important part to this puzzle! Ha!" He chuckled at himself. "Eddie, you doofus!" He rubbed the side of his head with another snort. "Would forget my own head if it wasn't screwed on! Hmm."

Well, at least he kept on flying.

Having enough of the sacrificial building burning to a literal chrisp, both the Groom and I moved forward, to find a way out of the Ward. It wouldn't take long until we could find the main entrance of the said location, but we would have to either walk or hitch a long ride home. This place was located in an isolated mountain region, so there would be no possible way for help to come and check out the premise. If they did get here, though... would they try to hurt us? I could recall the argument both a scientist and security guard had with each other long ago, when they mentioned a shortwave radio and close connections to help with the alarms automatically alerting any officials to come to the asylum.

Shit, would they have got the message earlier on? How long has it been since the alarm went off? Almost an entire day? Eighteen hours? For a professional militia, those guys would have taken way too much time to arrive. Too many people were dead by now.

"I recall this Ward." Eddie suddenly stopped at his tracks, wanting to look around the darkened hallway we stood in together. "I always had to come down this way to speak to many therapists. Oh, look! This room!" Eddie gripped my hand with his and pulled me into an opened room we were standing right next to. I didn't want to go in, but I decided to humor the guy. "Yes, I remember now... This room."

The room was surprisingly untouched, despite the massive collection of crazed variants infiltrating the place. It was a psychotherapy room, I could tell, from the way it looked clean and OCD infested. The furniture looked comfy - one lounging couch for a patient to lay back on and talk, and a tall armchair for the therapist. It looked way too comfortable and spotless. If I were a patient, I would have lost my mind to the sight of alphabetically organized novels on psychology and to the unreal cleanliness.

"I really hated this room." Eddie admitted with a scoff. "I wanted to obliterate those bookshelves and desk. The Doctors kept talking and talking, but of course, it was just no use," he nonchalantly shrugged.

"Heh," I eyed the tall armchair. "Looks like I'm playing Doctor."

"Oh! I'd love to play, darling." Eddie purred at me with a saucy smirk.

"No, not that!" I retorted, blushing hard. "I'm not going to do anything like that in your therapy room."

"Aw, but it would be so deliciously kinky of you."

I just ignored that last part, and plopped down in the easy chair, exhaling when I felt my body become abnormally lax. Eddie obliged, sitting down at the lounging chair to lay back and fold one leg over the other, staring up at an aging ceiling. Meh, it wasn't too bad to sit in the chair. It didn't feel rough, like most comfy-looking easy chairs come out to be. It was sat on enough to become cushy and comfortable. I also folded one leg over the other, pretending to act professional like a therapist would. Eddie looked at me and chuckled, eyebrows rose in amusement.

Then he exhaled loudly. "... I always had to come to this room, to speak to many therapists about my condition." He moved his hoisted foot thoughtfully. "They mostly asked me about the Walrider. The Morphogenic Engine's effects on me. I lied a hundred times over, though." He admitted to me, and honestly, I wasn't phased by the fact that he lied about the Morphogenic effects. If he told the Doctor's the truth, they would have tested on him more thoroughly, and well, from what I could remember... painfully. "My mind's so foggy, though. It's like the flowers are wilting now..."

And just out of my own thoughts speaking aloud, I decided to ask. "Eddie, why're you here?"

"Huh?" He didn't understand.

"Why're you here, in Mount Massive Asylum?"

Eddie paused, foot stopped moving, and eyes still fixed to the ceiling. Perhaps I may have struck a nerve to the pondering question, but it was something I wanted to know, personally. Sure, I read Eddie's report, but I wanted him to tell me the truth, all on his own. I wondered if he even would, though, as I had just sat there to listen to his breaths and stilled silence. Maybe even when therapists weren't around, he would never tell a soul about his real charge to this asylum?

"... Well, it began when I had kidnapped a woman. My seventh one." Eddie sighed, his fingers tapping over his belly in a thoughtful manner. "I kidnapped her from a music club, after I heard her small performance on stage. She had a sweet voice... Jazzy, like the female musician that had recently passed away... What's her name again?"

"Amy Winehouse?" I answered.

"Oh, yes! That's the one! Bless her soul." Eddie smiled widely for a second, before dropping back to his serious one. "I can't remember the girl's name, though... It feels like a far cry now, as I think hard on it. But, her voice was beautiful, as she was. Her beauty was just too perfect, though... as if she hadn't been hurt before. Her smile always made me cringe, out of spite and romance. I wanted to know her more.

"But, she wouldn't listen to me. I wanted her to come with me to the sights and joints, but she said no. So, I took her into my car by force. I remember that I had a spare bat in my car, in case any of my ladies dared to run." I saw Eddie shift uncomfortably on the lounging chair. "When I took her back home with me, I hid her in the basement. Her screams wouldn't be heard there. As much as I tried to be... ever-so gentle to the angel, she continued to cry and call me a monster. If she had wings on her back, I would of ripped them right off with a bone-saw... but I tried my hardest not to do so. But the days dragged on, and her face became my worst enemy. She... looked nothing like Mother's, but, for some reason, I pictured it every time I looked at... at Carol! Yes, that was the girl's name, I now remember! Carol!

"Oh, Carol... She was a fragile form, full of too much pride. I promised her numerous times, on many different occasions, that I... would NEVER rape her. But, I settled to abuse her, and torture her, and force her to say she acknowledged me. Of course, she did, but... I knew deep down she wanted to ignore me. To take herself away from her prison and... leave me alone...

"The more the thought became real, the more those days became worse. I began to torment Carol the... exact way I tormented you, darling." Eddie stopped for a moment to looked over at me and stare into my eyes. Then, he looked away. "I broke her fingers, and had strangled her on different occasions to make her too weak to fight back. Yes, I smacked her numerous times, and yes, I made her watch as I mutilated men and women alike. Carol wanted to go home. To leave me...

"Her day came, when I asked of her to sing me a song. Carol sung a song she said she had been thinking of telling me lately. It was called 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?' She sung it so beautifully, like a personal lullaby made to soothe me out of my stress. It sounds rather silly, but... her voice cradled me to sleep... I could remember nodding off at the chair I sat at, right next to the iron cage I kept her in...

"She got the keys off of my belt, and unlocked herself out of the cage. And I sat there, sleeping like a doofus, while Carol ran away to find police..."

And that must have been when police obtained Eddie. Evidence of the police's search in his old home exposed various, gruesome photographs and incriminating proof of Eddie's crime. Perhaps Eddie had pled insanity during a speedy trial? Mount Massive Asylum found extreme interest in bringing Eddie to the prison, but not to treat him with the right sort of therapy... Poor bastard was being held captive in his own insanity, with those scientists supporting his declining condition with those tests and engines...

"I'm sorry, Eddie." I found myself saying.

Eddie shook his head, eyes glued to the ceiling still. "Oh, don't apologize, my sweet... My Uncle and Father should be doing just that..."

Oh, right. I had nearly forgotten about Eddie's true trauma in his life. His blood betrayed him, making a constant victim of physical and sexual abuse in the broken childhood home. Any boy being touched by his own Father - the role model in their lives - in such a horrendous way. Eddie must have been completely vulnerable to the ways his blood degraded him.

"I wanted Mother to help me. Or, just someone... I did nothing to make them reject me when I knocked on their front door for help. I was constantly turned away, no matter how much I wanted someone to notice me. Acknowledge me, and make me feel... important. Mother constantly left me alone with Father, too oblivious in her alcohol binging to realize the obvious signs of his, his acts upon me... the things they've done to me, when I was small..."

Eddie's own confession made my heart ache. Unlike him, I grew up in a happy home, with parents that loved me dearly. I grew up smiling, despite the mistakes and wrong choices I've made. And there was Eddie, my polar-opposite. He grew up wrecked and damaged straight from his toddler years, already nurturing the hatred for his own family and the world. He grew to a tall man full of pure spite and personal depression, and the paranoia of ending up alone.

Shit. I actually felt sorry for the madman.

"But, that's when you arrived, my dear..." Eddie suddenly rolled off the lounging couch to stand in front of me, his towering height shadowing me. "... I began to find that I didn't need to make a Wife all along! I just needed... needed someone that I could hold onto... to have them realize my issues!" Eddie grinned widely, looking absolutely joyous now. "Now we can be together forever!"

Wait, what?

"I understand now... to protect you from the vile people, like those men, I just need to keep you here! In this asylum! Where it's safe!"

Oh, hell no.

"E-Eddie, listen..." I knew I was in for it now. "The thing about that..."

"What is it, darling?" He asked, eyes glazed in hope.

Dear God, why me?

"... The exit out of this Asylum is just out this Ward, and, honestly... I need to leave." I held my breath for a few seconds, shifting in my chair. "I've been trying to get out of here since those scientists used the Morphogenic Engine on me. I had this camcorder with me to document everything that I've witnessed in this hellhole. There are people waiting out there for me out of this place."

How else could I put it to Eddie? He wasn't the type to be rejected like this. Not by a long-shot.

I sunk into my chair when I saw a change in his features. I was poking the slumbering grizzly bear.

"I don't belong here, Eddie. I was forced into that laboratory to be tested on, just like you were. I need to get out of here, to expose this place's corruption! I need to find help for those still alive! These patients are victims. You're a victim, too."

But that didn't help one fucking bit. Eddie's face was now twisted and wrinkled with pure rage. His eyes were literally glowing bright with fire, fixated right on me like glue, not moving one bit or budging. I could just feel the intensity of his fury literally seething and searing right from his scowl. I felt ready to either crawl into a hole and die, or bolt right out that door to save my own skin.

"... Leave, you say? After all my love I've given you?" If his soul was made of fire, he would be spitting it. "I JUST poured my HEART out to you, darling, and YET, you still find it relevant to just get up and LEAVE?" And as fast as light, Eddie's hands retched out and grabbed at the front of my shirt, prying me out of my chair. He brought his face to mine, snarling madly. "And I ACCEPTED the fact that you were a MAN! I accepted the fact that I wanted to love and DIE for you, after we FUCKED." Oh God, please... Please help me... "I WANT YOU HERE! NOT OUT THERE!"

"I don't WANT to stay here!" I finally screamed. Eddie paused. "I can't stay in this fucking place another second, Eddie! Please, just-" my hands went for his wrists, trying to pry them off of me, "let me go!"

"I'm NOT letting you go! Not another second will I let you go, you fucking ignorant slut!" Eddie could have struck me, but with his fists occupying my shirt, he violently shook me, like a newborn baby. "You won't step one fucking foot out those doors, Waylan!"

He used my first name... God.

Eddie stopped shaking me, abruptly, to look down at my legs. "I should break your legs some more, to not make you mobile..."

That was it. I balled my hand into a fist, and jabbed the Groom straight in his good eye. The attack made him bellow, loosening his hands off if my shirt. I used the effort to shoved him back, and start out the door on hot-feet. I didn't know how I managed, but Eddie was far from over.

"No!" He screamed, bolting after me. "Don't leave me! I CAN'T BE ALONE!"

The pain was back. I didn't even want it back. Fucking Eddie - don't do this.


	6. Castle Of Glass

**FUN FACT: Why're Waylan and Eddie so fit? Cuz they lift, bruh.**

**I'm so sorry I didn't update fast enough like I usually do. I was at my high school graduation, yay! On with the story!**

_"And you were there at the turn,_  
_Waiting to let me know._

_We're building it up,_  
_To break it back down._

_We're building it up,  
__To burn it down.  
__We can't wait,  
__To burn it to the ground."_

- Linkin Park, "Burn It Down."

* * *

_Dear Lisa,_

_I know this may sound... really crazy right now, but... I think I love Eddie._

_I know what you're probably thinking of right now: my stupid Husband's got Stockholm Syndrome. Well, if that's going to be the only way to describe it, then perhaps I do. Still, it doesn't mean that I don't want to help him. This place has gotten to his head, making him believe that this is a safe sanctuary or haven from the world. He's already dealt with too much shit to even understand that this place has also victimized him, just like how the people did in his past. I had to make him realize it, but, I just pissed him off._

_Wherever this guy is now, I'm not sure. All I know is that he wants to kill me. But I want to help him. I want to..._

_God, I'm risking my own life here. Helping a psychopath is suicide right now. I bet he hates me, too._

_But, Lisa, I really want you to understand this. I love you and Eddie Gluskin alike. I was always there for you when your folks left you penniless and lost in the big city. Now, I'm going to help this lunatic find his sanity again. And if I don't make it out of here alive, I want you to always, always, always remember that I did my very best, and that I meant every word when I said I loved you at our wedding. Tell my boys that I love them so much, and that I'm sorry..._

Probably not the most sentimental message I've written so far, but it would be my last.

As I snuck deeper into the dirtied halls of the Ward, I was trying to evade the rampant Groom and figure out what those noises were from the distance. From what I could tell, they were the heavy footsteps of more than just one man running about, and variants screaming something unintelligible before they fell silent. I had to stay in the shadows now, to try and not be spotted. Whatever was making those variants riled up and distressed was not something to go up against. I prayed it wasn't Chris Walker I'd run into.

But upon approaching a barricaded door, I peeked through the screen of its window box, and saw with alarm that it was the milita.

So, the radio _did_ pick up on the call I was trying to make. The militia _did_ respond to the alert going off in the asylum after all. I saw three men standing there, armed down to the bone with guns and indestructible armor. Their faces looked masked in gas-masks, but why? Upon standing where they were, I saw a dead body laying cold and stiff. The body looked of an elder man, balding at the top of his scalp. His face was distorted, unreadable. But what I could tell from afar, he was a dead variant, like the others.

I didn't want to approach. If that variant was dead, and those guys were standing there over him...

My paranoia was confirmed, when I heard the reign of bullets firing, and variants from afar were wailing out for help. The team of three left in a hurry, also going after any of the leftover patients within the dark hallways to eliminate them. I swore to myself as I tried my best to sneak through the shadows, overhearing the gunfire and men screaming.

"All teams authorized for deadly force. Repeat, all teams deadly force! Shoot anything that moves!" An order was blaring out of a static-radio from one of the armored men, when they luckily ran pass me as I hid behind a lone desk just near the intersection of the hall they entered. They took a hall just opposite of facing the one I was cowering in, and I let out a sigh of relief. But, fuck, if it wasn't my luckiest day...

Why was the militia ordered to kill anything that moved? These patients were innocent - despite their hostility. It wasn't their fault that the Morphogenic Engine had warped their minds into pure insanity. I thought they were going to rescue them. Unless... they were ordered to hide the secret of the Asylum's projects? To leave no evidence behind them, once this place was cleared? Shit. Now I was incredibly intent on escaping to expose them of their crooked ways.

The whole time I had dodge any military man's eye darting me, and how many times I was able to evade any gunman's sights, the only thing I could think of was fucking Eddie. That motherfucker - after I had wanted to save him, he wanted to kill me for it. I should have been full of spite towards him. Should have been wishing him dead while I thought of my missing family's faces as a glimmer of hope to help me escape. But no... my Mind's Eye could only see Eddie. That Groom finally had me around his finger, and I wasn't surprisingly minding it. I hit myself in the bruised forehead - Waylan, you fucking sicko. How could you even think that of yourself?

"Multiple officers down in sub-basement! Unknown assailant! We need EVAC and paramedics!" But before the female official on the other line could finish her status, she screamed and shouted helplessly as an abomination on the other line annihilated her and her team. I could hear her other teammates also screaming for God and help, being taken down by just one person. And there could be only one person that could do such violence in one sitting:

Chris Walker.

"Copy that. We're sending back up. We're coming! Just hold on!" One of the men on my floor rushed with the others to the stairway leading to the basement.

Cruelly, I scoffed. _Good luck against that Hulk-of-a-guy._ I rolled my eyes, before moving quickly.

Wherever else these guys were coming from, seemed to have been degrading now. The basement would surely be full of them now. And whomever was below and abolishing the armored men and women were doing me a big favor on not being caught.

I pushed open a new door into an new room or area, seeming that I may have stepped foot onto the second floor of the entrance. I could see from the foyer that, out of the misty windows of the hall observing the first floor, there was a lobby. The exit out of this place was just a flight of stairs down. My mouth literally dropped. Holy shit, was this it? Did I find the way out?

Moving my feet fast, I ran downstairs to my only salvation. I could see the rays of dawn pouring into the lobby, through the opened double doors that looked kicked-in. A dawn of a new day, just straight out those doors. I held my breath for it, though. I wanted to make sure I was awake.

"... Mister Park?" A familiar voice called my last name from the lobby. As I ventured closer towards it, I spotted a miraculous sight just leaning against the door of the exit. It was Mister Blaire, the man that wanted me to wind-up dead within the Asylum and in its horrible secrets. Just seeing him now, leaning against the door, holding his side as if he were injured, I was more highly impressed that he survived for those long, agonizing eighteen hours in this asylum. Jut how was this man still alive? Rotten luck? Whatever got his lucky ass out of that living nightmare should be thanked and thanked one-hundred time over.

Blaire made a distressed grunt, eyes squinting as he weakly dealt with the shooting pain at his bloodied side. Who attacked him? The milita? No, that didn't sound right. Blaire likely told those guys to search the entire premise and kill every single patient. Whoever was trying to kill Blaire sadly didn't succeed in the dirty work. Shit, how I would have loved to see him dead.

"How the hell're you still alive?" He asked, through a discomforting chuckle. I should of been asking him the same thing. I didn't respond, unable to. I was seething on the inside, just by seeing that motherfucker's face. "... Let's make a deal, eh? ... Y-You help me, I help you."

Deal. So, even in this state, he was still capable of asking for deals? Fucker.

"You should be dead." I coldly responded to Blaire. "I don't make deals with deadmen."

Which then prompt the man to suddenly jump out at me with a pounce. A short-knife was hidden in the fold of his arm, unsheathing it to jab the sharpened edge straight into my belly. I felt the cold metal dig deep at my stomach, letting out an abrupt yelp of distress, before Blaire yanked the blade out and threw me backwards onto the floor. Shit, I should have known this guy would pull a fast one on me.

"No one can know!" Blaire roared, knife still in his hand, with his other hand holding his side, approaching fast. "No one!" Blaire dropped to one bent knee to grab at my throat. "Fucking DIE already!"

"You!" A familiar voice bolted towards us. "GET OFF OF HIM!"

It was Eddie, tackling Blaire off of me fast, both flying to the floor, feets away from where I was. I gasped out, scrambling to the heels of my palms, looking on at Eddie as he violently attacked Blaire.

"I remember you!" Eddie screamed in Blaire's face, holding the petrified man by the collar of his suit-jacket. "You... You made those scientists do horrible, HORRIBLE things to me!" A sharp jab at Blaire's face, square in the nose. "Tested, day-in and day-out! Shoved into a room to believe the therapists' fucking LIES! Telling me I'm being treated! But they raped me! They used me, like my family did!" He gripped the top of Blaire's hair and started slamming the back of his head against the solid, marble floor. Hard enough to make blood spurt from his cranium. "Liars! ALL OF THEM!"

But, Eddie wasn't done with him yet. As much as Blaire pled to live, Eddie wasn't hearing none of it. Instead, he dragged Blaire by his short hair to the middle of the floor, and proceeded to beat him with a baton he found laying on the broken floor. This was Eddie's final victor against the machine - recognizing himself, and destroying the one that lied and abused him. Blaire was just one of those men in Eddie's life that betrayed him, and he was having the glorious time to unleash every little thing he endured those years in the asylum.

"Stay awake!" Eddie barked, giving a savage grin to the caved in brow and broken face-bones piercing out Blaire's skin, blood pooling onto the floor. "I have so much to do to you!" Eddie dropped to his knees and wrapped both his hands around Blaire's throat to strangle him. Blaire's eyes widened - or tried to - and he tried speaking, but couldn't while his mouth was full of his teeth. "Suffocate... like you've done to me!"

But then, an incredible sound of ringing pierced our ears. Only mine and Eddie's, though. The noise sounded static, but etched in an intensifying screech that caused us to cover our ears in order to block the noise. Everything around us silenced, except for that ringing. Eddie was screaming, but I couldn't hear him. My ears felt ready to pop, as the noise escalated to where my lungs felt blocked, and my breaths were short. I began to scream when my back started burning with fiery pain, forcing me to back out fast until I hit the closest wall with my back. My mind was buzzing as everything was moving too fast, causing me to shake my head feverishly.

Eddie backed off of Blaire, running to me. But before he reached me, black smoke filled up the room. My heart nearly burst out of my chest when I saw an outline of a man's body materialize out of the floor, moving towards Blaire. It was Walrider! My mind kept telling me I was just seeing things, that it was all the Morphogenic Engine's effects, but... how could I be, when Blaire was kicking and trying to scream when he saw the same thing?

Just as Eddie collapsed next to me on the floor, the black smoke grabbed at Blaire, lifting him up into the air and started throwing him around like a ragdoll, while the man screamed and questioned how it got out. The ringing continued, even while the Walrider forcably merged into Blaire's body to begin tearing him apart, ripping him shread to shread, until he blew up into meaty bits and grime, blood raining down right on me and Eddie. The ringing stopped abruptly when the ghost vanished, dying down like a thunderstorm...

_Holy shit_.

"Holy shit," I only manage out, eyes never blinking.

My heart was still rapidly beating, and my body was trembling. I flinched when I suddenly felt Eddie move from my side to the front of me, hugging me. I could feel that he was trembling, for the first time in years. His breathing hitched, just as overwhelmed as me. Fuck, why would this place...?

"I don't want to let you go." Eddie suddenly sobbed, leaning in to press his face against the middle of my collarbone, body close and snugged to mine, arms circled around my back. "That ringing... I knew it was the Walrider. I-I thought he was going to kill us. I needed to be by your side..." He sighed out shakily, rubbing his closed eyes on my shirt. "I don't hate you, Waylan. I love you."

My mind was still shattered, but I found my arms wrapping around this psycho, holding him tight. How weird - he was more built than me, but he fitted in my arms so well, as I laid my head on top of his. I listened as the lobby went silent, the world holding its breath for the last time, until it finally exhaled with me. The sound of a pigeon's cooing made me lift my head and look on at the opened doors.

"Eddie... let's go." I petted the man's shoulder. "Let's leave, forever."

"Where... Where to?" He asked of me, afraid to look at the outside too soon.

"Anywhere. Wherever you want to go." I promised him.

The first steps out of Hell took my breath away. The sunburst upon our weary forms floored with life again. Eddie held my hand tightly, as we limped through the crowded driveway of armed vehicles, towards the stone steps down to salvation. He was absolutely silent, looking at the green grass, taking in the colors of flowers, and breathing fresh air. I felt him entwine his fingers with mine, unable to let go. I held on tight to his as well, as we hurried towards the gated entrance of the asylum.

As we walked along the driveway towards an abandoned red jeep, Eddie looked behind him, right at that asylum. He stared for the longest time, soaking in everything he could remember about that place. How the sun shone down onto it, yet its darkness couldn't be exhiled. Everything torturous and agonizing, all the tests and lies that scarred him... he was literally able to walk away now.

"M-My vows..." Eddie blinked, still staring at the massive architecture. "Waylan... I remember my vows..."

I took a moment to adjust my brain. "Eddie?" I asked of him to continue.

When we were at the side of the jeep, Eddie smiled at me, with those eyes glassy full of utmost sadness and happiness at the same time. He held both my shaky hands in his. "I do remember you from that laboratory, and I knew you had to be my savior. I knew I had to protect you from the bad, as you have tried for me. I want us to be happy forever. I know I'm not the best, and I'm not the perfect man I want to be, but... When we are bound together, in this twisted fate... I will love you, for the rest of my life. I will protect you. We started together - let's end together."

My heart broke for the second time in hours. A burst of tears prickled at my eyes and began pouring. I made a throaty whine, keeping my lips shut, as I covered my face with my hand.

I realized now just how much I really did love this man. How he saved me, as I saved him, and how I've pried him out of the darkness.

"Let's get out of here, Eddie. And never come back."

Eddie smiled fondly and nodded once, before walking around to the passenger side of the jeep to hop in.

We were bound, and alive.


	7. The Park Family

**Definitely not ending the story just yet. Aw, hell nah. This chapter was somewhat a challenge, because I needed to fully understand a Wife's grief, in understanding her sadness of not having her Husband. So, I turned to music, and Hania Lee was the perfect example of grief and sorrow. Hella yeh.**

**NOTE: I just finished editting the fourth chapter of this story. It needed more SEXY sauce - too bland.**

* * *

I think it's been about two hours in that car, driving back to my house.

I could remember where my place was located, driving through somewhat roads and passing gas-stations that were pretty much rundown or visited rarely. The forest region was where I lived, out in the rural part of town. Since I had Paul and Henry - my two boys - being very young and active, they needed tons of space to play and use their youthful energy on outdoors-discovery. Lisa didn't really like the idea, but eventually warmed up to the plan when she could be able garden and exercise freely without visiting a gym.

On the drive there, Eddie was asleep in his seat. He was an extremely silent sleeper; I could hardly hear him breathing. Perhaps just another paranoia technique he taught himself back in Mount Massive Asylum. I was actually surprised as to how calm he was in the car. I had thought for sure he would of lost it, being in a moving vehicle again. But the Groom wasn't phased - hell, he even knew how to use the seatbelt correctly! Eddie is an interesting man I need to understand more thoroughly.

He also didn't mind the car-radio on. Playing aloud was some new single, by a younger band called 'Magic!' Their single was called 'Rude,' and the fucking song couldn't be anymore ironic. Wedding issues, it was about. I looked at Eddie's sleeping face whenever the song hit the chorus, smiling and chuckling to myself. I could finally laugh at it now.

Looking at the man's face as he slumbered soundly, I couldn't help but note on how peaceful and lax he looked. His face was completely drawn, able to take a breather without panicking. I couldn't wait to sleep, either.

Another long fifteen minutes after, and I drove up into a familiar area with a curvy road that led down a hill. Yes, this was starting to look more familiar to me now. I went down the road, passing by brushes of outgrown grass and tall pine trees standing orderly like a uniform. I then spotted the black roof appearing over the line of brush beyond my sight, and my heart nearly dropped.

Home.

Driving up into the entire driveway, I parked in front of the house, taking a long moment to stare at it. God... everything I had escaped for, narrowly dodging death numerous times, climbing out of Hell... Here I was, back home. It almost felt surreal, being here again. The driveway was unoccupied, and the garage was opened with no car, which meant Lisa was not home, and neither the boys.

"Mmph..." Eddie groaned, stirred awake from the jeep being immobile. He opened his eyes tiredly, lifting his head up, inhaling deeply through his nostrils until his chest was full, back stretching out. When he exhaled, Eddie looked at me, then at the house. He furrowed his eyebrows, with an unsure look on his face. "Darling?" He asked of me, rubbing his eye. "Where's this?"

"This is my house." I answered, looking back to him. "I live here with some others."

"Are they here?" He blinked, completely unafraid.

"No, but, maybe soon..." Honestly, I didn't know where my family was, but, surely they were fine. "Let's go inside."

Out of the jeep, both Eddie and I headed towards the short stoop of my house approaching the front door. Automatically, my hand went for the welcome-mat on the porch, discovering the spare key. I was surprised - still remembering Lisa's small hiding habits. I smiled at the old, dingy key, turning it over once or twice, before inserting it into the keyhole, turning it to unlock, and opened the heavy door.

Everything looked just the same as I had left. Lisa had a inspirational love of decorating in modern-style, and everything was just as she had wanted it to look before I left. The furniture was there, and the family photos were either hanging on the walls or on top of the fire place. The smell... it was the same aroma of Lisa's sweet perfume and the boys' soccer-shoes. I could see some of my kids' toys sprawled in the middle of the living room floor.

As I ventured into the second room, to relish on the home I left, I didn't notice that Eddie was eyeing a family picture upon the unlit fireplace.

When I came into the living room, I saw Eddie standing there, looking straight at that family portrait that he now held in his hand. I nearly crapped my pants - I forgot about my family seeing Eddie. Also, him discovering I had a family of my own. That picture was taken a year ago, before my family and I had moved to this new place. It was a beautiful photo, with my two boys and Lisa smiling brightly, along with me in it, arm wrapped around my Wife. I looked at Eddie, paralyzed where I was. Would he flip out on me?

"... Is this your... family?" Eddie asked dully, not taking his eyes off the portrait.

"... Yeah." I answered, frightenedly, but tried to sound calm. "Th-That's my Wife, Lisa... Those are my two boys, Paul and H-Henry." I swore mentally at myself for sounding so scared. Eddie could likely feel the damn fear radiating right off of me as I spoke. I gnawed at my bottom lip anxiously as Eddie nodded to the picture, before placing it back where he found it.

He then looked right at me. Right fucking dead at me... and smiled.

"I knew you had someone else." His eyes were mixed in many emotions flourishing, but his face seemed especially calm. "I didn't think you'd... have children, though..." He then turned fully to me and strides right at me. I made a flinch when his hand outstretched to me, thinking he would hurt me. But instead, Eddie touched his fingers over my cheek carefully, looking in my eyes just a bit longer. I wished to read his thoughts, because right there, Eddie look so completely unreadable. It was fucking scary. "How old are your children?" He curiously asked.

I cleared my throat. "Paul and Henry are twins, so they're both twelve."

That was when Eddie made a bewildered look on his face. "Aren't _you_ twenty-eight, darling?"

"... Yeah." I quietly answered with a nod. He must have done the math in his head.

I found myself thinking of Lisa's safety, if she were to meet Eddie. What would she think? What would he do? And, what about my boys? I knew Eddie wanted children, but he hasn't seen any in years. Shit, what the fuck to everything?

After memorizing and relishing on the first floor, Eddie and I went upstairs to also explore. No, nothing changed there, either. Seemed that Lisa's inspiration had begun to die down. As we walked down the long hall, I looked through an open door nearby the staircase, and saw that it was my sons' room. Heh, still as trashed as I remember it being. Paul was usually the clean kid, though, while Henry was more of the messy one. Twin differences - a classic scenario.

"What about this room?" Eddie looked into a room that was cleaned out and furnished as a casual guest room. Lisa, I could remember, wanted to touch up the design, to not make it so bland.

"That's the guest room. A lot nicer than a crummy hotel room." I shrugged, but Eddie nodded.

Then I found the sacred room of all in the house. No, not the bathroom. The parents' room - mine and Lisa's.

As I had almost guessed, it was cleaned and untouched. But, the floor was littered with ripped-out magazine pages on fashion, bits and pieces of Greg wallpaper strewn about, and pencil drawings on printer paper in paperballs or tossed aside as they were. Seems like she was trying to keep herself occupied with so much projects. But, it looked like none of it was going along anywhere. Lisa had made countless drawings on dresses, fedora hats and such.

"This is my room." I answered, as I allowed Eddie to step inside. "It's, uh... well, you know, the parents' room."

"... Oh..." Eddie only answered quietly, seeming too interested in scanning the entire room with his eyes. I still felt the familiar fire of anxiety riling up to every movement and touch Eddie made to the furnish or photos. Just seeing the big bed now, he knew it was where Lisa and I laid. I couldn't see what his expression was, as he had his large back turned to me, but something deep in the back of my mind told me that it was either the look of lost, or the look of potential threat. I didn't want to touch him, while he were in that state. I just tried to keep my distance, unknown whether he'd lash out or not. Eddie remained silent as a mouse.

And then, a sound downstairs caught my attention. Eddie paid no mind to it, so, I decided to check out the noise myself.

Walking out the room, down the hall towards the top of the staircase, I looked down to see if there were anyone there. And I saw...

"Henry, go and take your shoes to the backyard. The cleats are dirty." A woman's sweet voice spoke aloud, calmly as it could through her tired voice. "Paul, can you go and see if I left the AC on while we were gone?"

"You always leave the AC on when we're gone, Mom." A young boy's nonchalant voice said, but went to go check anyhow.

"Mom," another young boy's spoke, while untying his shoes. "Is Dad coming home soon? My soccer game's almost coming up."

The woman thought for a moment with eyes shifting to the floor. Then, she looked back to her blonde son with a sad smile. "I'll try calling him again, Henry. I don't know when he'll be home, but, he can't be gone forever." She tried to act as normal and happy as she usually feels, but, deep down, she was completely unhappy right now. Her son, too involved with himself, noticed nothing of it, as he finished untying his shoes and slipping them off, walking off to the back patio door in the kitchen.

Now she just stood in the foyer, arms crossed and thoughtful. Her face looked coated in worry and anxiety. When will her Husband be home? It's been too long now. Much too long. Will he have to stay at that asylum forever? But he was just a technician. Why would he need to stay there with days on end? She knew he was doing this work to help support the family, and doing a career he enjoyed, but now... She has been missing him for months.

The beautiful woman laid her back against the closed front door, exhaling heavily to herself. Perhaps she could try calling his cell, but, it always sends her straight to Mount Massive's administration. When she asked of her Husband, they wouldn't allow calls. Even that motherfucker, Blaire, decided to be extremely nosy and invade her phone calls. She left him a nasty message to express her hate for the boss that forced her husband to be sealed off in that cursed place. How dare he keep her Husband away? It wasn't fair.

_Shuffle. Shuffle._

Footsteps coming down the staircase in front of her made the Wife open up her eyes, thinking it was one of her boys. But, then, she was heavily, and silently, startled by the sight of a full grown man before her, at the last step. She froze up, unable to recognize him at first, due to the dirty clothes and injured face decorated in bruises. Her eyes widened when she noticed something coming into view from her misty Mind's eye. This man had dirty blonde hair, the same big blue eyes as her Husband's, and even the same height as him. Was this...?

"... Lisa?" Waylon smiled with his bloodstained lips. "... Lisa, it's me."

His voice. Dear God, his voice...!

"... Waylon?" Lisa couldn't blink, nor move. She continued to stare, awe-struck. "W-Waylon?"

"Yeah... It's me." He chuckled once, feeling just as pinched.

And that was when everything boiled over like mad. Lisa covered her mouth with both hands, inhaling deep as she felt the first set of tears prickle at her eyes. Her large brown eyes lightening as her missing Husband was finally standing in front of her. He looked like he just survived a freight train crash, wrecked and bruised black and blue, but, here he was.

"WAYLON!" Lisa pounced at her Husband, engulfing him in her arms, holding him as tight as she could. She finally started sobbing hard, right onto Waylon's shoulder, one arm around his shoulders and the other hand over the back of his head to keep him close. She hadn't openly sobbed during those months alone. She always had to hide herself in her bedroom to cry in private, so that her children wouldn't have to worry about her. "Waylon... Waylon, it's really you!" She sniffles, unable to stop smiling.

Waylon's heart burst out of sheer joy, feeling himself crying along with his Wife. He wrapped his arms around her back and held onto his best friend, not wanting to let her go ever again. Hearing her voice again, and to hold her like this, just made him so alive.

"Mom, why'd you shout?!" Paul ran into the foyer, hurrying to check his Mother. And he immediately stopped when he saw her hugging someone he hadn't seen in months. Waylon turned his head to his Son, and smiled widely at him. "D... Dad? Is that-?"

"DAD, YOU'RE BACK!" Henry bolted into the foyer, straight at Waylon's side to latch his hyperactive arms around. "DAD, WHY WERE YOU GONE SO LONG? DID YOU DO A LOT OF COMPUTER STUFF? ARE YOU STAYING HOME NOW?" Yes, Henry was still the same loud-mouth Son that Waylon loved.

Paul was stricken, unable to seriously process what was happening. He was always the calmest in the household, so showing too much emotions was almost like an overload of overwhelming feelings. Now, he stood, dumbfound. Waylon understood his quiet Son's immediate reaction, and decided to approach him himself. Releasing Lisa from his arms, Waylon approached Paul with a wide smile. It scared Paul, but nonetheless, the boy wanted to be embraced by his Father again. A tear ran down his young cheek.

"Dad, how'd you get back? Did you steal that jeep outside?!" Henry hurriedly asked his Dad in excitement.

And that was when the explosive moment came to light. "I had help from my new friend there," Waylon gestured up the top of the stairs, and the three looked to where he notioned. They saw Eddie Gluskin. Lisa accidentally made a startled gasp, when she saw the Groom's scarred, red face. Paul was quietly shocked out of his mind. Henry looked on at the guest with glittery, awe-struck eyes.

And Eddie was staring right back at them in shock.

They hadn't seen a madman before.

Eddie hadn't seen a proper family in years.

The moment came when Eddie was at the bottom of the staircase, and standing before Lisa and the twin boys. His eyes were wide, mouth sealed shut like it were kept closed with super glue. The trio tried to be polite and not be drawn back by Eddie's frightening stature and his damaged, blackened eyes. Perhaps it was a bad idea to even introduce the family to a complete lunatic, but, Waylon couldn't hide him forever. How could he?

"Hello," Lisa smiled sweetly at Eddie, hands behind her back. But she brought one out to extend for a handshake. "I'm Lisa Park."

Eddie couldn't react quick enough. He hadn't seen a woman in... fuck, years. Well, never a formal, proper girl, like Lisa, to be precise. She was awfully nice to begin with. It almost made him want to just stand there and never introduce himself. But, he reached out a hand to careful shake her's. "Eddie Gluskin. Charmed." He cracked a smile. He was actually meeting THE person that his darling had committed himself to. Somehow, he knew it'd be a woman. He just had that urging feeling.

"Hello! I'm Henry! You look so cool! How'd you get those scars?! Did you-"

"Henry," Paul quieted his obnoxious twin with a hiss. He then looked at Eddie. "Sorry - my Brother kind of has too much energy. He didn't mean to offend you about that question. My name is Paul." He maturely introduced himself, as he always has been.

Eddie stared at the boys, with petrified eyes. God, he was standing before Waylon's KIDS. It was almost like a dream, being there and hearing children for the first time in way too long. Eddie just stared at their youthful faces, seeing how they were incredibly identical to one another. And yes, they looked just like their Father. While Paul looked more serious, Henry looked like a typical, overeager boy full of energy. They shared Lisa's large eyes, and her button-nose, but the rest just screamed Waylon right on spot.

"I-I, uh..." Eddie didn't know what to do. He's dreamt of having children of his own, but now... standing right in front of these boys... "A pleasure to meet you..." He sounded ready to run and vomit. All of it, seeing a Wife and two kids, was making Eddie physically sick. Yet he tried hard to keep his composure. Tried his best.

"Please tell me you're staying." Lisa looked to Waylon and Eddie. "You aren't going back to that asylum, are you?"

Both men made sour faces to the memory of that asylum architecture. They gave each other a quick glance, before answering fast, "NEVER."

"Is he staying with us?!" Henry eagerly pointed at Eddie.

"Stop pointing." Paul deemed at his Brother again.

Eddie made an unsure expression, looking to his dear lover for assistance. "I'd hate to oppose..."

"No, stay!" Waylon and Lisa said at the same time. "There's no trouble of you being here, Eddie. You're more than welcomed."


	8. Paul and Henry

**How will Eddie react around the children? What does he think of Lisa?**

**Waylon needs to keep a close eye on his second lover.**

**I was also working on another small project, writing it here. It's a crossover story of Outlast and Fatal Frame called "Kiss The Moon," if your interested in reading it.**

* * *

Just two weeks of living with the Park Family, and Eddie could finally declare them as harmless, but very odd.

It's been far too long since Eddie Haas seen any children. Quite honestly, it's unreal to even be standing there with them.

Paul and Henry were both twins that didn't share quite a lot in personality and interest. While they were both four inches taller than the average 12-year-old boy's natural height, and the fact that they were willingly isolated often from the world, they were no different from being normal children. Eddie did like being around them, wanting so desperately to hold them and care for them, but then, there was the constricting fear of being too close to them. Physically, Eddie became ill, and needed to get away from them before he vomited. But then, there was the psychological illness that made his damaged mind try and accept that they were real, and not a figment of his imagination. He didn't want to become an enemy to these boys.

"Paul," Henry bothered his Brother with something in his hand. "Paul... my shirt got caught in the door again." He whined, showing the hem of his favorite shirt ripped.

One examination with his quick eyes, and Paul gave Henry the stern look. "Did you do that on purpose?" He asked.

"_No_! Why would I rip my own shirt on purpose? That's stupid." Henry scoffed at his strict twin, still clutching his hands over the large rip. "Mom's not home to fix this, and Dad don't know how to sew stuff... Can you fix this for me?" He gave his Brother those darling puppy-dog eyes that would usually win him something in return. But of course, this trick didn't work so fluently with Paul. His Brother just deadpanned at him. "Please?!" He barked out.

"I don't know how to sew, either." He dumbly said. "But I think Mister Gluskin does."

And of course, Eddie heard everything. No, he wasn't eavesdropping. He was just sitting at the couch, in the living room downstairs, while the twins were talking aloud in the loft upstairs. Just hearing his name made the Groom cringe slightly, knowing that the boys would come to him for assistance. And of course, trotting downstairs together, the twins made their way to Eddie.

"Mister Gluskin, do you know how to sew? Henry ripped his shirt." Paul explained a second time, holding his Brother's wrist in his hand. "I think he might have done it on purpose, though."

"I _didn't_ do it on _purpose_!" Henry defended himself another time, retching his wrist out of his Brother's grasp. "He probably doesn't even want to fix this!" He was obviously boiled up, but not because Paul kept accusing him of damaging his own belongings. It was because Paul wouldn't help him. "Why can't you fix it for me, _Paul_? Sewing isn't even that hard to do..." He murmured, peevishly, looking ready to thrown a petty tantrum.

Paul sighed, annoyed. "Remember the last time I sewed something for you? It ripped again." He then looked to Eddie. "Mister Gluskin, I don't mean to completely bother you..."

"Oh, no," Eddie tried his hardest not to flip the fuck out. "... I can fix that." He glanced at Henry's ripped shirt.

Honestly, Eddie was quite astonished. These boys looked into his bloodshot eyes, and even stared at the hideous scars on his face, and yet, they found no need to fear him. Henry was the one that wasn't scared of Eddie one bit. He actually found Eddie to look rather amazing and unique with his scars, reminding him of his many favorite anti-heroes in his endless comic book collections he's gathered in his hoarded room. He even thought it was awesome that Eddie could sew anything to completion, fixing them brand new. He even liked his stature, which was funny, because Henry had dreamt of being that tall.

Paul was a cautious one with Eddie, but he too had begun to find Eddie harmless. He did like the same things about Eddie, finding him interesting to listen to when Eddie spoke, and to just look at him when he was in deep, deep thought.

"Do those clothes feel better to wear?" Paul couldn't help but ask, as Henry sat on the couch with Eddie, while the Groom had a sewing needle in his hand, tying in the red sewing sting to the thin tool. "I mean, your tuxedo looked really cool and all..."

Paul was asking about the new clothes Eddie as wearing. The family's neighbor had given them clothes to let Eddie wear, since they didn't have any that would fit his towering stature. Eddie was now wearing something extremely casual - black t-shirt, red plaid jacket, and long demin jeans. He wasn't allowed to wear his old boots, due to the mysterious grime and grease that coated the soles thickly. So, he was just walking around with sock-covered feet. Honestly? It did feel nice, but... He would have loved to keep his old clothes.

While Paul went into the kitchen to check on their house cat in the backyard, Henry watched as his Brother wandered off. "Uh... Mister Gluskin?" Henry looked to Eddie once Paul was out of his sight. "Can I tell you a secret?"

Eddie make no hum or nod of his head. He just deadpanned at Henry, wanting him to continue.

"... I did rip my shirt on purpose." He confessed.

"Why?" Eddie's natural reaction was to ask. He didn't mean to talk, but he couldn't help it.

Henry pressed his lips together firmly, to think hard. "... Paul." He shyly answered weakly. "Paul hasn't been the same, ever since Uncle Royce came over to spend the week with us. Paul's been just acting more distant and quiet lately." Henry frowned to himself for a moment, before his eyes moved down to the rip on his shirt. "I want his attention a lot, so... I ripped my shirt, because I thought he'd notice me again."

Eddie took in the information. He wouldn't know exactly what was wrong with Paul, but he could sense Henry's frustrations on trying to have his big Brother's attention again. Did something happen here between Paul and their Uncle Royce? Eddie would have asked Henry what he knew, but, the lad was just as confused as him.

They acted normal again when Paul came back into the living room, with the family cat in his arms.

* * *

The day outside was rather cloudy out, and Eddie couldn't help but stare out the window more often to look at the black and gray clouds rolling by. He didn't think of stepping outside just yet, wanting his darling to come home. Waylon and Lisa were at the hospital, having to get treatment for Waylon's severe wounds and for his missing fingers. Of course, Waylon said he was going to lie through the whole thing, say something that came to him whenever the Doctor would question. Darling was a pretty little liar.

"Mister Gluskin?" Paul's voice called for the Groom, surprising the older man with the sound of a basketball bouncing on the kitchen floor. "Mister Gluskin, do you want to go play some BB with me?" Paul asked, standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

Eddie almost frowned. He actually hadn't played any basketball in one year. He hadn't been playing, due to Mount Massive Asylum's intensive researching and testings on himself and the Walrider. But, when he was able to play during free time in the Ward, the male patients would use the gymnasium in the vocational block - the one Eddie had used it as a makeshift meat-locker to slaughter and hang up every single darling that couldn't fulfill his utmost desires to becoming a married man.

"Where's Henry?" Eddie asked.

"He went with Mom and Dad, remember?" Paul nonchalantly answered.

Eddie cringed. The way the kids would just say Mom and Dad so carelessly...

"Sure, I'll play." Eddie got up from sitting at the bay-window and followed the young lad outside.

Outside for another time, Eddie could smell the heavy scent of water in the air. It could have been the lake nearby, or it could have been rain. Other than that, Eddie felt abnormally lax in the outdoors air. He was actually quite glad that there was no presence of sunlight, being cloaked in the rainy, cloudy day that made him feel safe. Daylight always made him feel exposed. Walking along a sidewalk trail that was leading down a steep hill, Eddie could see an emptied basketball court below, that looked as if it would be surrounded by fog and trees, with no lifeform to present. Truly a good place to tell scary stories after dark.

The basketball court was old and neglected. Being covered behind the tall pine trees, this court looked as if it hadn't seen a living soul in years. The concrete ground was crackled, giving way for grass between the cracks to sprout and root. The poles of the basketball hoops were rusty from seasonal changes, and from the exposure to too much wind and moist. The nets looked brown and rotted, yet still elastic and durable. Paul seemed to know the place well, though.

"You wanna duel or freeplay?" Paul asked, bouncing the ball on the concrete ground.

Eddie shrugged. "Freeplay." He decided.

It's been a while of playing, but, Eddie wasn't rusted out just yet. He could still pick up the basketball and still make sharp pointers with no problem. It use to be his favorite part-time back in the asylum, finding it to be as stress-reliever as he bared through the other hardships the place was putting on him. Paul was an excellent player, too, seeming to teach himself how to play. He wasn't perfect on making hoops, but, the led was a fierce player. The freeplay soon became an unconscious game of dueling, with Eddie and Paul trying to win and outdo one another.

Another throw at the hoop, another strike. Paul was beginning to pick up fast on Eddie's small tactics, able to outwit him in his own game. Paul was definitely not a stupid kid. In fact, he was quite a lot like Waylon. The way he thought fast, and the way he was not giving up, and the way he just had the same, victorious smile like his Dad. Eddie wanted to get his heart out of his throat, but couldn't while he was around this youngling. He just saw so much of Waylon in him, it almost made him want to cry.

Eventually, Paul ended up winning.

"Yes!" Paul threw his arms up in victory. "BB-fucking-Master!" He threw the basketball at the hoop out of excitement.

Eddie couldn't help but chuckle out of delight, breathless, though. No, he didn't let Paul win the game. Paul won it on his own, and Eddie wasn't so mad about losing.

Tuckered out from the game, Eddie and Paul sat on the ground together to catch their breath. Paul hugged the basketball to his chest, while sitting a little more closer to Eddie's side. He didn't feel so afraid of the tall man now, finding him more harmless than threatening. Of course, Eddie didn't like the sudden closeness, but, nonetheless, he liked how Paul was beginning to trust him. It wasn't everyday that someone, other than his Bride, trusted him and was fond of him.

"I wish Henry would play BB more often. He doesn't like it, though. Soccer's more up his alley." Paul began, placing the ball down on the ground in front of him to roll around.

Eddie looked at the boy with some curiosity. "You don't have your... Dad... play often?"

"Well he did play a lot. But now, with some of his fingers missing... It's kinda weird." Paul made a thin line of his lips when Eddie made a short laugh. "Are you going to be staying with us, Mister Gluskin?" Paul suddenly asked. "You're not going to move away soon?"

Eddie shrugged, out of honesty. He didn't know what to do out in society, but, he still had his attachment and love disorder upon Waylon. Of course, he couldn't tell the young lad that. And how would he? It would be more scary to think that the kids' own Father had their new guest as another lover. Eddie didn't want to answer anything too soon, feeling a little bit off. But leaving? No, Eddie didn't want to go away too soon...

"I've no one to seriously go to and stay with, so... If I'm not too much of a bother."

"No, stay!" Paul objected fast. "It's just really great to have someone around again. I hadn't seriously made any friends ever since-" That was when the young boy stopped, lips clamped shut and eyes darkened. He made an uncomfortable shift where he sat. "... Well, I mean, it's just really great." He smiled weakly.

_Ever since Uncle Royce was here to spend time for a week..._Eddie could remember Henry saying.

A mental smack to Eddie's face made the Groom almost want to fall over. God, did... Uncle Royce do something to Paul?

"I'll admit it," Eddie put his hands up. "Henry mentioned your change of behavior was due to a visit your Uncle Royce made here." He looked to Paul fast, hands down. "... If it's something personal, you don't have to tell me..."

He expected Paul to not live up to the suspicion. He imagined the boy would get up fast and run for the hills. But, Paul stayed put, chuckling even. He stopped rolling the ball around to think to himself. Eddie stared down at the boy with some anticipation, wondering whether he would confess anything.

"Uncle Royce came down here a few months ago, because my parents wanted to go and spend time together for their anniversary. Henry and I didn't mind, because it would mean freedom from our parents. Uncle Royce promised... He promised Mom and Dad that he would look out for us and treat us well, just like a second Dad. But... But just two days in babysitting us, something happened.

" Uncle Royce asked me to come in his room one night, while Henry was asleep, because he wanted to show me something. I trusted him, so I went into his room... But then, he locked the door when I was in, and then he told he to remove all my clothes... He, uh, wanted to see me bare. I kept telling him no, and it just got him angry. He actually grabbed me by the neck and tried choking me, so that I could get scared into undressing. I didn't, and honestly, I think he would have choked me out, hadn't he stopped.

"I was unconscious when he blacked me out. My neck kept stinging, though. Here,"

Paul hooked his fingers around his turtleneck collar to reveal large, brownish bruises at his throat. They were obvious thumbprints that looked deep and covered the spots where his arteries should be.

"For the whole week, Uncle Royce molested me, and tried to rape me. I wanted to get help, but, he kept saying that if I tried, he would do something to Henry... And, Henry was oblivious to it all happening behind closed doors. It was his week to practice his soccer match, too, and I didn't want to say a word. I didn't want him to worry about me. I worried to death over him, though.

"When it was time for my parents to come home, Uncle Royce threatened me not to tell them anything. But, I didn't listen this time. Right when Mom and Dad pulled up to the driveway, got out of their car, I ran outside fast and told them everything. I even showed them the bruises. I couldn't stop crying, honestly, because I felt so sick to tell them every little event."

"... What did your Dad do?" Eddie dully asked.

"Dad was fucking _pissed. _I've never seen him so freaking fumed before in my life. He confronted Uncle Royce with everything I told him, and Uncle Royce tried denying everything. He tried blaming Henry for the bruises, but, Dad knows Henry better than that. And before Uncle Royce could try and leave, Mom said something to him. I don't know what, but, it invoved a hard smack to his face and more screaming. I think Dad gave him a sucker-punch to his face. God, it was just perfect! Uncle Royce's nose was swollen and bleeding.

" My parents and Uncle Royce are still doing court time about the case. I already showed my bruises, and told them everything I remember to that week... I don't know why he hasn't been proven yet. "

Was that the reason why Paul was so different? Did that one week change him forever? Perhaps...

"... You sound completely fine about talking about it, though." Eddie couldn't help but say.

"It's best to let it go, than stay with it. That's what my therapist said." Paul's eyes half-lidded for a moment, before he looked to Eddie. "Do you understand my reason, though? Why I'm always different?"

Eddie's mouth went dry. Of course he understood, entirely. He knew hit much it would hurt. How betrayed he would feel by is own blood. How one thing could change a person, forever. His heart made an uncomfortable thump when he closed his eyes to think for a brief moment on his reply.

"... Yes, I completely do."

And in no time, Eddie felt the boy embrace him hard. He was startled to feel the boy's head on his shoulder, and arms wrapped around his back. He went stiff when he felt Paul smile happily onto his shoulder, a flutter in the young boy's heart made him swoon. Eddie didn't know how to respond. He was only use to hugging Waylon, and no one else. But, this was a child holding him... One that he wanted to be his Son... Eddie lifted up a shaky hand to weakly pat the lad on the back.

"I wish you were my Uncle, instead." Paul sighed, releasing his arms from Eddie.

Eddie could help but smirk, when he heard that. "Me, too," he quietly responded, before he felt the first drop of rain fall on his cheek.


	9. Lisa, Darling Dearest

**What does Eddie Gluskin think of Waylon Park's Wife, Lisa Park?**

**Another attachment disorder.**

**This chapter was inspired by two amazing pieces of art:  
One, the '_Home Sweet Home_' artwork, detailing Eddie Gluskin's horrific childhood.  
Two, Hans Zimmer's new song, "My Enemy," that I think describes Eddie's hatred so well.**

* * *

Eddie couldn't deny it - Lisa was a remarkable woman.

The moment he laid eyes on her, he thought for sure that she wouldn't like him. But as time went on, Eddie was being looked upon as the most interesting human being in the world. Indeed, Lisa was always scared by his disfigured face, but she had come to enjoy Eddie's polite and charming personality. Yes, he did creep her out sometimes when she least expected it, but, she tried not to get overwhelmed by it. She thought the was just somewhat of a mental defect, since her Husband mentioned something about Eddie being _slightly _unstabled.

Lisa was a proper girl, with a gloss of tradition in her uncanny morals. She liked to base her opinions on facts, instead of jumping the gun. She depended more on the text, rather than just the cover. And she seemed to have feared nothing else of Eddie, other than his scars. She didn't want to treat him like an ordinary guest, though. She really tried to make him feel welcomed, as a friend.

"You made this waistcoat, and everything else, on your own?" Lisa asked, as she and Eddie stood in her sewing room together, looking at Eddie's old tuxedo that he made back in the asylum, that was now fitted onto a male mannequin. Lisa was kind enough to not throw it out, despite the old smell and mysterious stains that blackened the waistcoat's fabric and sleeves. "This is such an amazing piece you've done, Eddie. I really love the bow-tie as well." She complimented wholeheartedly.

"Oh," Eddie felt flattered. "It was just thrown together with anything I could find in the Ward..."

"And it came out beautifully. You must have a very calculated mind, because all the different fabric pieces you've put together fit like a puzzle!" Of course, her words made Eddie feel like his face was reddening. He was just glad she wasn't looking at him, wrapped in her brand new ideas. "You like the formal wear, too? Well, that makes it more fun to create."

Ever since Lisa had discovered that Eddie was such an avid seamster, she had also wanted to share her love for sewing with him. She was just like his other counterpart, showing him different drawings and sketches of dresses and waistcoats she had been asked to make for a wedding couple. Eddie wanted to laugh, finding the disgusting irony in it, but he said nothing about it. Instead, he decided to use the time to help her, definitely with the dress. He saw potential he wanted to make happen with the designs.

And of course, Eddie was more than happy to help create the blasted wedding dress, that the Bride was so detailed and whiny about during her visit to Lisa's home. Eddie almost forgot why he hated some women in the first place, until the visiting Bride-to-be came about and opened her big mouth. God, if that was what Bridezilla was like, then he hated to imagine the Husband's honeymoon with the beast. Mostly likely going to beg and nag for a certain, exotic place to travel to across the world.

During the time spent together, Lisa began to not fear Eddie as much as she thought she should have. Her motherly instincts gave way to make her friendly and kind towards him. She had gone off her project at time to try creating some fun accessories for him to try out. There was one particular thing that she made him, on a Winter's first day. When it was cold out, Eddie wanted to go out and explore the rural area, when Lisa came to see him with a new scarf she made him on her own. It was one of those Arab scarves that teenagers and young adults were so crazy about these days, but this one was homemade.

Certainly from the Wife's heart.

Eddie couldn't help but always remind himself of how he did like the feeling of Lisa's fragile hands adjusting the scarf around his neck, how careful and diligent she was. When she finished, Lisa gave him a grin, which made him shamefully blush to, feeling his ears heat up. When she smiled, she looked like a little cat. Her eyes sparked, and squinted like a cat's would when they napped. Her lips curved just like a feline's as well.

Actually, there were _many things_ Eddie liked about Lisa.

He liked her short, brown hair - how her bangs parted one way, and how her ends barely touched at her shoulders. He liked her heart-shaped head and jaw. He liked her personality, how friendly and motherly she was all at the same time. He liked her large, limpid brown eyes. He liked her soft skin, how pale she was. He liked how short she was, just two inches shorter from Waylon's average five-ten height. Hell, he even liked how quirky and clumsy she was sometimes. All the little facts that made Eddie develop a crush on the woman.

Of course, it was wrong. And needy. Eddie still loved his darling Waylon with all his heart and soul. Lisa begun to connect to him, though, but in a way he was unsure about. He didn't even know if it were love or a dear friend's odd emotions. This was the first time he had ever felt confused about what he wanted. Dear, dear Lisa - how she made him feel so bewildered.

"Can I go with you?" Eddie asked of Lisa one day, as she was getting ready to go to the mall on her own.

Lisa rose her brows. "Sure you can!" She perked up happily. "Wear that red jacket! It's freezing outside!"

Going out into society in such an odd time was something as a large step. He hadn't been around normal people in ages - introduced to the public once again like it were a long lost friend. Eddie dressed up his casual wear, deciding to take the black beanie that Lisa made him. He wouldn't know what people were like these days, but, he just hoped they didn't suffocate him with too much of their presence.

Lisa knew this would be Eddie's first time back out in society, and she understood his worries. She wanted to ask beforehand if it would be fine of him to go out, but he was already dressed and prepared to go. Obviously she couldn't tell him no. The two strolled out the house and made their way to her car parked out front.

* * *

"What is _that_? What're _those_? When were _these_ invented? Why is there a poster of a man skydiving _there_?"

And just as Lisa predicted the other half of Eddie's social issues, he was making everything eye-candy. Eddie was in the modern age, so he was overwhelmed with the sights and colors of technology and clothes. Everything was just different! But, oddly enough, Eddie didn't hate anything. In fact, he absolutely loved the brand new electronics and plastered wide-screen television sets that were displaying action scenes and trailers of upcoming films about to hit theaters. He was intrigued by the many sets of items being sold behind the tall windows of individual stores the duo were about to pass up.

Lisa didn't mind that Eddie was heavily influenced to know more about the magnificence surrounding him. She was more than happy to act like a tour-guide, giving him the ultimate tour around the large mall she knew well of over two years. Though, she did have to hold his hand at times, due to the fact that when Eddie saw something glitter from a distance, he'd bolt after it and never come back. And damn, he was fucking fast.

They were stared at by the people passing by them on the fairly bustling floors, giving dirty looks every time Lisa dramatically pointed at something and told Eddie what it was aloud.

They stared at Eddie, but for one obvious reason behind their disgusted eyes. _His face_. Despite cleaning and washing it often to rid of any red gunk or oozing blood, Eddie was still scarface. His blackened eyes scared older people away, and made young adults or teenagers think Eddie was challenging them to even dare on saying something awful about him. Eddie knew anyone would, and quite frankly, he was mentally prepared for it. He killed countless people in the past - he wasn't scared of normal people. He was also prepared to call out anyone that would dare insult Lisa.

But not everyone would insult, whenever they approached Eddie to closely examine his face. Some actually liked it.

"Aw, dude! Gnarly scars, bro." A young skaterboy with two shaggy-haired friends complimented Eddie. "Swaggie."

Eddie deadpanned at the young man. "... What'd you call me?" He hissed lowly, like a rattlesnake.

"Eddie, let's go, please!" Lisa hooked her dainty arm around Eddie's to pull him away from the petrified boys before he did anything he would regret. "Don't worry, Eddie. When kids say that, it means it's a good thing... They like your scars!" She tried explaining, pulling Eddie towards a tailor shop. Lisa was in need of more white and red threads, follow by more pins and needles. "It's a language teenagers invented. Just ignore them."

Inside the shop, Eddie did love how everything look well placed and somewhat unorganized due to the intensive work being done throughout the shop. Since the holidays were coming up soon, there were many customers waltzing into the tailor shop to begin their new buy on a new suit or designer outfit. One man standing at a triple-body mirror was standing there, speaking on his cell phone, while a tailor measured his shoulders and arms. A woman was sitting down at a leather chair and having her legs measured by a female tailor. Many of these customers looked sophisticated and collective, which made Eddie uncomfortable. _Too collected_.

"Monroe," Lisa approached the counter with Eddie, seeing a man jotting down something in an opened notebook. "Monroe, it's your favorite seamstress."

Monroe, this tailor, looked up from his notebook to notice Lisa, and then, he looked at Eddie. Out of natural fright, the tailor jumped back with a startled gasp.

Eddie obviously saw this, staring right at the shorter man with daggers, completely offended. He was about to call him out for it, almost use the old word "whore," until Lisa cut him off from doing so with a pat on his arm.

"Monroe, meet my friend, Eddie." Lisa gestured her hand to Eddie. "Eddie, meet Monroe, the owner of this shop."

"Hello." Both men greeted each other awkwardly.

After asking to buy what she needed for the wedding dress project, Lisa paid for the supplies and bidded her tailor friend farewell, walking out with Eddie still at her side. He gave the tailor one last dirty look over his shoulder before taking Lisa's hand into his.

"Well, that was fun." Lisa joked, with her bag in her other hand. "Do you want to keep looking around, or-"

_Yank._

Lisa was pulled back by Eddie. When she looked at him, she saw that he was frozen where he stood, head turned to another direction. She thought he must have seen yet another amazing sight of something beyond their point, and also looked to where he was staring at. But, in her confused eyes, Lisa saw nothing there. It was just a small crowd of people walking by, and some standing around and chatting to one another.

But in Eddie's eyes, he saw someone. No, _two_ of them. He held his breath, as everything suddenly became mute into his ears with just a heart beat of his own. Everything seemed blurry in his vision at that point, but, he could see those people sharply. He was staring right at them, and they didn't even know it. His lips parted lightly in disbelief when he began to see their faces more clearly when they began to turn around nonchalantly and keep on chatting to one another about something inaudible. They were a good distance away, to where it seemed as if he was staring at nothing.

Two men. He saw two men. Both looking the same age, reaching likely their mid-seventies. His blue eyes didn't meet their's, but as they continued speaking to one another, he saw a familiar smirk on one of the men's faces. He saw one of them look up to a store's sign briefly to read it over, and Eddie could see that they had the same icy blue eyes as he did. Both of them were bald at the center of their heads, but had some surviving short locks at the sides. One of them was in an automatic wheelchair, while the other was standing straight and walking perfectly fine.

Eddie felt his body tremble suddenly, his hand that connected with Lisa's shook. She felt the shake, and looked up at her friend's blank expression. His eyes were wide, and his face grew more pale the more he stared any longer at those particular men.

"... Dad?" Eddie weakly whispered, before- "No, no, NO!" He suddenly rose his voice, taking a step back, breathing heavily. "No, this can't be!"

"E-Eddie, what's wrong?!" Lisa panicked, still holding onto his hand with both of her's. "Eddie, please, calm down! What's wrong-?!"

"GET ME OUT OF HERE**!**" He screamed to the top of his lungs, to where his voice boomed and echoed throughout the floor they were on. Already, people were looking and staring like he was a street performer. "LISA, GET ME OUT**! _PLEASE_!**" He emphasized the word 'please' with so much desperation, grasping both her tiny hands with his large freehand. "I can't breathe-! I can't breathe-!"**  
**

"Eddie, c'mon, just follow me!" Lisa shouted, not caring if people were giving odd faces at them. She started dragging Eddie out of the mall, to the nearest exit, while trying to calm him down with encouraging words. "Eddie, don't worry. I'm here, okay? There's nothing going to hurt you, alright?" Her words almost reached Eddie's plugged ears, as he tried hard to stop staring at the men behind him. He forced himself to look at Lisa, and when he did, a sudden flash of a blurred image danced before him. It took form of Lisa's body for a moment, portraying as a different woman he's never even met before. Or maybe he has? He couldn't remember!

Eventually, the two got out before mall security could obtain them. They ran out to the parking lot, finding Lisa's car deep in the automobile jungle and quickly drove back home. Eddie covered his face the entire time, shaking his head feverishly, unable to breathe correctly without giving hitched gasps or wheezes. Lisa didn't know what to do, but all she knew was to keep Eddie calmed.

_Just keep calm, Eddie..._

* * *

When night came of the same day, Eddie was in his guest room, trying still to calm down. It was late at night, while the Park Family was slumbering away.

He had managed to sleep sometimes, but would wake with a sudden start. It would be because of those reoccurring faces that he saw back in the mall. Those men... could it have been true? Could he have seen the ghosts of his past? He was unsure of his own eyes, not wanting to believe that it was the men of his tortured past that were back to haunt him again. But, they didn't recognize him, did they? It's been too long since he's seen his Father and Uncle. Surely, it couldn't have been them. Perhaps he was just mistaking two strangers for the family he had so desperately wanted to leave behind?

Eddie kept telling himself this, as he laid back down to try and sleep again. He covered both his ears as he tried his best to sleep, thinking the voices would come back to talk him out of his rest. No... No, he didn't want to hear them again. He was doing so well now. He didn't want to-

_Eddie._

A harsh whisper hissed in Eddie's covered ear.

_Eddie, why're you in bed? You need to get up. You need to come downstairs and see Uncle, like a good boy._

"No... no..." Eddie pleaded to himself, for his lost sanity. His heart throbbed, as he felt the first set of tears come back. "No, I don't want to go."

_You never listen. _Another man's voice slithered into his ears. _You thought we were gone? Ha. You ain't seen shit, boy. We saw you, at that mall..._

"No, you didn't." Eddie shook his head. "You don't recognize me." He squeezed his fingers around his ears. "You didn't look at me."

_Oh, we saw you, Eddie. You've gotten taller, boy. You look like shit, like ya always have, though. _His Father's voice was next to laugh cruelly. _I should crush that face of yours some more, shouldn't I? Like the time I shoved your face into the pavement at the park? Yeah, that was fun._

_You should just shove his head underwater. Make him shaddup. _

"No, please!" Eddie begged, his body feeling weightless and alone. "I've been doing so well... Why're you back?"

_Because you're shit, Eddie Gluskin. You've always been absolute shit._

"I've been better without you!" Eddie rose his voice slightly, with a growl. "I have something you both never had!"

He heard his Uncle make a scoff. _Oh, look who's getting balls for once in his life. _He felt a hand stretch out of the darkness to reach for Eddie. _Stop talking smack and get downstairs! You know what'll happen if you don't listen to us! _And, physically, he felt that very hand latch at his throat, and start squeezing hard, taking the breath right out of Eddie. _Your Ma ain't home. Your television dream-family ain't real! You're just a sick lunatic, boy!_

"**NO! NOO!**" Eddie began kicking and swinging his arms, clawing at the imaginary hand that gripped at his throat, scratching at his neck. "**STOP IT! LET ME GO! MOTHER! MOTHER, HELP ME!**" Eddie wailed out for the parent that never existed in his life. He thought he was going to die, right there, by the wrath of his ghosts' hatred and anger towards him that drove him mad...

_"Eddie?" _A woman's voice spoke out softly. The squeezing yield, and Eddie's fight stopped. _"Eddie, my baby boy...! What've they done to you?!" _A blurry, blackened figure of a woman materialized into the white lights behind his eyes, and he almost lost it. Her shadow had long, curly hair, and a thin body. _"Eddie-!_" The figure approached Eddie fast, with arms opened.

"Mother...!" Eddie grasped onto the shadow and pulled her in, close enough to keep the person pressed to his body, his large arms surrounding the dainty form, crying and sobbing onto the woman's shoulder. "Please... don't leave me anymore."

But, the figure he saw wasn't actually Mother. It was Lisa.

"Eddie..." Lisa said his name, unsure of what to do, but wrap her arms around his broad, shaky shoulders. "Eddie, it's okay. You were having a night-terror." She explained, as she held onto him.

"They lied to me..." Eddie began to cry out. "They shot at me... They were using me... They hated me..."

Lisa listened, hearing this broken man's honesty. She could feel his tension shake at his shoulders, and she could feel that innermost sadness pour out. She knew he was unstabled, but, she had no idea this was the extent. She felt her heart break for this man, that was calling out to a Mother that wasn't even there. Was his Mother dead? Was he mourning for her, for help? She didn't know, but, he needed someone there for him.

"They hated me... They..."

"Shh, shh, it's okay, Eddie. I'm here." Lisa hugged Eddie close, the side of his head now resting on her chest. "No one's going to hurt you, Eddie." It was her Motherly instincts calling out to hold this man in her arms, and cradle him to safety. Her arms were warm around him, one hand resting on the back of his head, while the other was on his shoulder, her thumb stroking over his sleeve. "It's all right, Eddie. No one is going to hurt you. Not anymore. I'm here." She petted the top of his head of messy hair with a careful touch, resting her cheek on his temple.

Eddie's rapid heartbeats began to calm down, after a pattern of deep breaths and reopening of the eyes help him almost lax. He felt Lisa's chest rumble as she hummed a song to him. He didn't know what it was, but, it made him come back down to Earth, hearing her voice. He realized he was not holding Mother, but Lisa. And he was fine with it. He saw that he was back in his guest room, not in his childhood home. And he was so relieved of that.

"Lisa..." He embraced her tightly.

"I won't go anywhere, Eddie." She promised him, and he knew she meant it.

Eddie couldn't deny it - Lisa was a remarkable woman.


	10. I Know I'm A Wolf

**Augh! I'm just so, so, SO SORRY for being absent for so long! It's insane to move from Arizona to Washington state via car. So tired...**

**But, the entire time, I've found that spark in my heart to inspire another chapter to be created. Mind you, this chapter will be like a song-fic, because this song wonderfully matches this horrible man, Eddie Gluskin...**

* * *

I don't know anymore, about what I want.

For weeks, I had been under this roof of a family that had wholly accepted me for who I am. I would have thought of them to be afraid, but, no. They act as if there is nothing to be scared of... It's not that I desire them to fear me, oh no. Having this sense of friendship and trust is a wonderful change, compared to my life back in that wretched hell-hole of Mount Massive Asylum. I love this new heartbeat drumming in my chest, whenever I see any of my new friends' faces. I feel safe, acknowledged and... Loved.

_Dear rabbit,_  
_My legs are getting weak, chasing you._  
_The snow fields wouldn't seem so big, if you knew..._

Yet, I constantly worry... I'm so damn worried about them, about their own safety. From Murkoff, from me. I don't want them harmed because of my existence. I don't want them hurt because of the Asylum realizing mine and Waylon's location, and planning some ambush. I know what Murkoff is capable of. They would have Waylon and I obtained and dragged out of that house, while these armored, military men are ordered to stay back and... exterminate the other witnesses - Lisa, Paul, and Henry... Oh, God, why would they do that to a completely innocent family of the crime? It's not their fault!

I'm scared of hurting them, as well. What if I lose my temper on any of them? What if I lash out and strike them? I know I constantly promise all three of my newfound friends that I would never let anything happen to them, and that I would do anything to keep them untouched by cruelty. But, sometimes, I wonder if that cruelty would be me? I don't often question myself and my principles, but... But what if I'm wrong?

_Now, this blood on my teeth, it is far beyond dry._  
_And I've captured you once, but I wasn't quite right..._  
_So I'm telling you, that you'll be safe with me._

I may have come to love the twins as my own. That shouldn't be so surprising, I suppose. I've always wanted children, as many as I can possibly get, and I was extremely lucky to come home to two young boys that so willingly accepted me as one of them. I had never been so confident within myself to always be so amazing around children, and usually doubted myself on ever being a grade "A" Father, as I always wished to be. But, nonetheless, I had been taken by the hand and given all their heart to trust them, and I did.

Henry is a child I've always wanted to be. That carefree boy, with just the boyish-worry over fun and friends. Of course, I won't act upon those child like behaviors. I know I'm old enough to be their Grandfather, depending on Waylon's age, and I know I'm not young. But Henry looks at me like a second Father, somehow, and then, he acknowledges me as a close family-friend. I would always protect his innocence, and his purest of minds from the rotten world he's been barely exposed to.

Paul... Paul, I understand fully. He isn't as pure and happy as his upbeat Brother. He has been exposed to the reality of the world too young, being thrown around like a ragdoll, as if he didn't matter. His parents fight to protect him, and he understands, but deep down, he knows the damage has been done. He can't be fully repaired. And he accepts this. It's molded him to be an adult at such an innocent age, and he has done everything in his power to be an example to strength, not weakness. And he's shown me it. He's shown me that not all children are damaged, like me.

And, Lisa. Dearest of dears, Lisa. I've already come to the obvious fact that I have a high school crush on the girl. But, who wouldn't? She's beautiful, she sensible, she's caring and loving, and she loves me for who I am. Oh, uh, no - she doesn't love me romantically, but, loves me enough to hold onto me, and promise to never let me go. Even if I was experiencing a horrible night-terror, I knew it was Lisa who came to rescue me. She held me the entire night, having to sleep right beside me in bed, continuing to have her arms around me while I tried to calm after the storm. I had never felt that motherly-embrace before, ever, until Lisa held onto me...

Lisa is two important figures in my life, that I never had. She is like the absent Mother I've prayed and wished for every night when I was small. Then, she is like the big Sister that would do anything to make sure little Brother isn't bullied or pushed around by the bigger kids. Lisa's been an only child, I've come to learn, and that her parents weren't the greatest. Perhaps she wants to be better, for the family's sake? Which was why I've loved her since.

_Never _would I let anything happen to those three. Murkoff would just have to kill me, instead, because I promised to protect them. And, as you may know, I NEVER go back on my word.

_Rabbit,_  
_My claws are down now, so don't be afraid._  
_I could keep you warm, as long as you can just try to be brave._

Oh, but, I would still want to live. Who else would look out for my Darling? Who would love him, as much as I do?

Perhaps I am greedy and selfish sometimes, when it comes down to Waylon. I would love him forever, though. Is that such a crime? ... Well, from all the crimes I've done in the past, I would suspect as much discrimination. I know what I've done in my past, and there's nothing for me to do, because I cannot reverse time. But, quite frankly, I wouldn't like to change anything. I'm not ashamed of the mass murders I've committed. I'm not ashamed of the many, many innocent lives I've taken for my own personal gain. No, I'm not fucking sorry.

They all built a clear path towards Waylon.

Isn't it funny, though? When you build a road to goodness, you're thrown with the bad right in your face? But, when you build a destructive path or journey towards the hatred and the low, you are suddenly given the chance at good? Perhaps fate is a sucker for the bad guys, thinking they need more help than anyone else. I sometimes laugh, knowing that fate had every given chance to just kill me. Get over the cycle. But, no, it didn't. Instead, it gave me another opportunity to live free, and plead not guilty to all crimes. Fate is the judge, and always has been... And I walked.

_Yes I know I'm a wolf, and I've been known to bite._  
_But the rest of my pack, I have left them behind._

I can always say that fate chose the right decision, even though the verdict was wrong. But, here I am.

For weeks, I am at my Darling's side, unable to let go of him. I had no idea just how clingy I was, until one night in my room. Another night-terror, another person to come and hold me. But, it would always be Waylon coming to save me from my dream demons, when I could feel them nearing and strangling me. I never asked of Waylon to always come back to me, whenever another episode occurred. He accost me, on his own will. I had always feared that it was out of pity, not love, which would sometimes be the reason why I would lash out at him behind his family's back. I framed him for not loving me like a person, but only loved me as some pitiful person. I know I've hounded this weak man long enough, but it's never enough.

Am I an abuser, as my Father had always made me out to be? I wouldn't know. I don't hurt Waylon for my own gratification. I hurt him because I love him too much to make him turn away. I cannot stand it when he doesn't look at me, or pay attention to me, or doesn't acknowledge me. I need him to notice me often, and never look the other way. I can be physical with him, yes, and he doesn't care. I had been throwing out slurs that can count as verbal abuse, and Darling takes in those words without hesitating.

Why? Because Waylon hits me back.

Yes, he does.

Before, the poor fool would be so scared and cowardly under me, as I overpowered him greatly. But now, since he is back home with a family he's been absent of, it seems to have awaken another side of him. Waylon screams back at me, warning me not to call him all those names. If I don't stop, he will gladly make me shut up with another hit. I had no idea just how strong he was, honestly. It's not that he has a history of violence - perhaps it was the Morphogenic Engine that has changed him. Aggression is the first sign. But, mind you, he's never this bad to the family. Just me.

And you know what? I am fine with this. It's something I'm use to.

When we fight, it's always private. We don't go rampant in front of the others, else they would discover our past together. We fight behind closed doors, or go outside and settle it like men. Waylon never means it, and I never mean it either. I don't know how to control my temper still, and Waylon has churned into an aggressive cobra that would strike at any moment, had he felt threatened or provoked.

You must think he hates me, don't you? It wouldn't explain the many times he had come to me for comfort. It wouldn't explain the countless times he's come back to save me from the monsters under my bed. It would definitely not explain in every brawl, he's never once told me that he hated me. And I never, ever, EVER tell him that, either.

"Eddie, I'm sorry. I mean, I didn't mean to..." Waylon was sitting at my side, wrapping a long stripe of bandage around my palm. He struck at my opened palm with a knife earlier. "Shit! Fuck! I keep fucking up!" Waylon shouted at himself.

"You keep fucking up? Ha." I scoffed hard. "I almost sliced your eye open yesterday with a fork."

Waylon didn't take it as a joke. He obviously hated how he was evolving into something he wasn't. "Eddie, I-I'm sorry. I don't mean any of this." He held the side of his hazy head with a hand. "I don't want you uncomfortable in this house. Not like in the Asylum-"

"Shush." I leaned in to kiss his lips. "You talk too much, technician. I'd ought to staple your mouth shut and throw you downstairs in the basement without any food or nourishment. Beat you fucking senseless, you little jackbooted-shithead." But I embraced him, tightly in a bear hug. "Then, I'd like to kiss all your wounds better and tell you how much I love you, over and over again, because you're so cute."

Waylon pulled away slightly to kiss me the same way, running his hand up the side of my head. I made a yelp when I felt him pull hard at my ear. "I wish I could live forever." He smiled when I winced to another pull to the ear.

Yet, I made a savage grin. "Oh, yes! Then I'd kill you everyday!"

We aren't perfect. We are disgraceful human beings. But, I love him enough to let him harm me. And he loves me enough to take in those insults. When I look him in the eye, I don't sense hate. I sense someone needy of my attention, thinking he can save me. I know I cannot be saved, but I love my Darling. I just love him.

_And my teeth may be sharp, and I've been raised to kill,_  
_But the thought of fresh meat, it is making me ill._

"Do you really want to do this? You know, you don't have to." Waylon assured me.

"... I know where they are. I just want to confront my fears, for once." I firmly stood by my decision.

Waylon and I were sitting in that red jeep, parked right outside of a house just at the boarder of Tuttle, Oklahoma. It looked rundown, somewhat, from the way the grass surrounding the home outgrew like a cornfield, and the exterior was neglected of rebuilding the crumbling walls and peeling paint. Bugs likely lived among the wild, harboring into this home like a hive. Junk outside the backyard cluttered together with rust and years of grime gathering between the metallic machines and gardening tools that hadn't been picked up in years. The front door looked chained up and stuck, as if it were meant to be an example of abandonment.

But this was my childhood home. I knew it wasn't abandoned.

"I always had to tend this place, when I was a boy." I began, as I continued to stare at the very house that had haunted my dreams. "I remember always having to mow the lawn, take the dog out, and, uh... Repair with Uncle..." My eyes shifted away to look at Darling. "I know they're here. That front door has been stuck for eons. The back door is only available."

Waylon gave me an uncomfortable look, his face written and plastered in worry. "Eddie... I'm here, if you need me." He gave a squeeze to my hand. "Don't let them hurt you again."

I knew they couldn't hurt me. I knew they couldn't touch me, like before.

Upon reaching the house door, in the backyard, I had found the wooden gate. I remembered when I was a boy, I was too short to climb over it. But now, as I am taller, I can easily step right over. So, I did. Once I was on the other side, I had made my way to the stoop, that sat a lone feral cat. It looked at me, and didn't recognize me, from the way it hissed and ran fast. I continued up to the porch, also being stopped by the familiar furniture sitting outside, draped under rotting blankets. Some of them looked like my childhood furnish.

As predicted, the back-door was unlocked. The screen door no longer existed, and the thick, wooden door was thinning from neglect and age. I propped open the heavy door, prying it open with all my strength, and walked inside.

A wave of nostalgia hit me hard, like a gush of cold, Northern winds. I found myself standing in a kitchen I remember being burnt and sliced-open with a butcher-knife in. It looked like a hoarding room now, clamored and jam-packed with useless junk and papers on daily news. Books were dried out and old, and the smell of decaying food and rats was thick. I felt one critter run across my feet, but I didn't flinch. This wasn't the first time I've encountered rats so often. Hell, I even remember this place being shut off from heat and water for weeks. CPS was always evaded by Dad.

I walked passed the running stove that was heating up a rusted kettle, and went into the living room doorway. When I stepped over the short hill of broken electronics and paintings, I found that the old living room had been used to hoard as well. Same shit, same room. Newspapers, furniture turned over or covered, walls painted in gray, and the carpeted floor ripped and stained from food or alcohol. Once again, that smell of Uncle's favorite liquor hit me like it did every morning in my early days. Cigarette smells had ceased, strangely.

"... Who the fuck're you?" A gruff from behind me asked. "I ain't had no visitor since five months ago."

That voice... It sent a shiver down my spine. My body felt paralyzed where I stood, and I had almost thought to run. But... I needed to stay.

"Well, sonny? Got somethin' to say?" The man behind me chuckled.

I took in a deep breath, clenching my hands into fists, and turned to face him. "... It's been too long, Dad."

_So, I'm telling you that you'll be safe here with... Me!_

The man behind me was, indeed, my Father. I hadn't laid eyes on him, ever since I was seventeen. He use to be taller, and more buff. I remember being short and thin. But now, it seems as if we've physically changed roles. He was still the same height, but I've outgrown him by six inches in height, towering him like a building. He was thin from drug-use, I could tell, but I wasn't sure if it was heroin or cocaine. He only started drugs after I was taken away, so I wouldn't quite understand his usage. His head was bald, except for some surviving patches of black hair on the sides. He was wearing dirtied clothes. I was stuck-up enough to wear some cleaner, nicer clothes than him.

Father looked on at me, a small shot-glass in one, burly hand, full. He stared for a long time at me, our blue eyes identical. I could feel the sudden wave of awkward intensity rising in the silence, as we both took in each others' new faces. I looked at him like he was a sack of old shit.

"... Eddie." Father shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "... Eddie, boy." He tried to say something, I could tell, but a sudden choke of a sob held him back. His shaky hand dropped the shot-glass and cupped over his mouth. "No way... No fucking way..." I could hear my heart racing in my chest, thumping in my ears. And maybe, just for a moment, I could hear Father's old heart skip a beat as well. "... Son." He inhaled deeply, still staring right at me, his face wrinkled and abused with alcohol and drugs. Before I could say something, Father turned around quick and started shouting, "XAVIER! XAVIER, GET YER CRIPPLED ASS IN HERE, NOW!" Father was calling for Uncle.

I took a step back, starting to feel overwhelmed. I thought for sure Father would have liked to fight with me, and I was mentally prepared. I didn't think he would be so... jovial?

"What? What the fuck're you yellin' at, Randy?!" The creaky sounds of an automatic wheelchair scurried into the living room, running over the newspapers and books. "You know I ain't suppose to be yelled at like that-" When Uncle got into the living room doorway, he stopped when he saw my face. I felt those same daggers stab through me once again, feeling the utmost pain overpower my emotions. But no, I wouldn't show it. "... Who the fuck is...?" Unless couldn't finish his question, studying my face.

Uncle Xavier looked like he finally hit the final stage of emphysema. His constant smoking landed him right in a wheelchair, due to weak lungs. A portable oxygen-machine was strapped to the back of his chair, with tubes wired up to his nostrils. He was sagged with an overwhelming amount of medication and such that had made him more large, hard to clean himself on his own. He had some bandages wrapped around his shin and around his shoulder. His eyes, blue as mid, were weary and foggy, stricken of life's coarse.

"... Is that who I think... it is?" Xavier continued staring at me.

"It's my fucking Son, ya moron! It's my Son!" Dad couldn't hold back his sobs any longer. His eyes were spilling tears, pouring down his wounded cheeks. "Shit! Holy shit! Eddie!" He outstretched both his boney hands to me. I looked down at them in disgust. "Son, please, lemme hold you-!"

"NO." I nearly screamed, eyes wide and focused sharply on Father's wrinkled face. "You keep your fucking distance, else I'll be hauled back to Mount Massive Asylum I've been turned loose from." Mentally, I chuckled at myself. My Southern side was coming out. "You will not hold me. You will not touch me. You will not FUCK ME, like you did my entire childhood!" I hadn't realized how much I rose my voice, until I began to remind myself on Father's voice, when he screamed. I realized I was louder. "I'm not here to make merry... I wanted to just..." I shook my head feverishly.

"You got so tall, Eddie..." Father couldn't stop cooing, trying till to approach me. "You look like yer Mom's Brother now..."

"Uncle Bruce was more of a man than you both combined." I coldly insulted. "I wish he were my Father, instead. He would have raised me right. He would have tried to protect me, from motherfucking molesters, like you..."

Uncle and Father began to fidget. They didn't want accept what they did, still. "We know what we did, Eddie. We know you got fucked up by us, the time you ran away from home! Those people took you to that Asylum, and we weren't allowed to see you!" Father quickly brought out something wrapped around his neck. It was a gold cross. "I've changed, for the best for you, boy! The Lord made it clear I did."

And right there, all the anger and frustrations bubbled into pure laughter. I was laughing! My hands were stilled balled, and my face was red from cawing like a laughing crow. "The Lord? The LORD forgave someone like you?!" I felt myself shake. "Any deity these days would always forgive any pedophile, rapist, and any child molester out there... Any of them! But, the children are the real Gods here... and they've damned you.

"So, don't bring me that religious bullshit, when you know fully well you're going to burn in Hell. I was forcibly taken to that Asylum, and I had picked up that bible to find the false forgiveness from an invisible person in the clouds. And you know what?! I found out it was all just bullshit! What I did back before the Asylum marked my fucking way to Hell! I am just going to sit in that hot pit like it were MADE for me! I shouldn't be forgiven for what I've done, and I don't give a shit if we're God's children! I killed them! I DESERVE TO BURN.

"... Ever since Mother died, you two did nothing but use and abuse me. You roll your eyes now, thinking you didn't do anything wrong, but I remember everything! You did everything in the book that every pervert just DREAMS to do to a helpless child! You've choked me, you've strangled me, you've drowned me countless times and revived me, you've burnt me on my legs and back, and you've RAPED ME. If God forgave two swines like you, them I must be the one at fault, right?! It's all Eddie's fault God hates us, right?! It's always Eddie!

"Oh God, I've dreamt so long to avenge Mother and Uncle Bruce, for what you did to them! You beat Mother, and made Bruce bury her while she was still breathing! Then you killed him... You killed family... Then, you just turn on me like you were the top-dog killers of Tuttle, with the filthy secret of taking two lives away! No - three! My own was taken savagely, and I was dead when you both took that time to pulverize me with so much... so much... I just dreamt everyday on killing you... Both of you!

"... But, I won't.

"Just looking at the two of you now, you both will die on your own. Father, you look like a washed up drug-addict that looks ready to fall over and die. Uncle, you look like you're pounds closer to death. A little bit more, and your tiny lungs will give out, and you'll suffocate..."

Both men looked on at me with so much emotions churning in their eyes. I could see Father was heartbroken by my words, while Uncle looked absolutely furious and outraged by my words. I was ready to defend myself again, wondering if any of them would get up to fight. I didn't want to kill them, because it would just sate their satisfaction that they got the best of me. Enough to kill them, and end their miserable lives. No. No, I wouldn't give them that one, final offer. Never.

"Boy... you're one fucked up man." Uncle Xavier decided to speak on his behalf. "How can you just come out here and tell us all these lies? We did nothing but raise you good! Your Mother was a schizophrenic gal, that killed herself! Uncle Bruce thought we did it, and tried to kill us! So we did him in before he got us! Why are you being so goddamn disrespectful of your elders, you shitface? We're practically dying, and all you think about is yourself! You're still that little selfish prick-!"

_SMACK._

"**YOU WILL NOT SPEAK OF MOTHER AND BRUCE LIKE THAT! NOT-FUCKING-EVER!**" I screamed straight in Uncle Xavier's face. "And _you!_" I turned fast to Father and backhanded him, hard enough to sent him flying to the filthy couch. "Eddie, it's your fault! It's all Eddie! But, it's not! YOU TWO WILL PERISH AND WAKE IN A SPECIAL HELL FOR ALL THE CHILDREN YOU'VE SABOTAGED!"

I could have killed them, right then and there, but...

"I finally have something you two never had. I have a family, and a... a partner, that loves me back for my insanity that they can only tame." Once again, I found myself trying to fight back the emotions. I didn't want to show them that I was breaking down. "I never knew what love was, until I was held onto that person. The one I love so much, with every fiber of my being... I will love them forever." I took one last look to those wastes of life, and gave a snarky scoff. "Bleed here and die."

And I left.

I left to find Waylon there, to hold me once the beginning of tears started. He told me that he was proud of me, to face my fears, and confront them. He said he was proud of me to stand for myself. I left that broken home with my head held high, and my spirit down and tamed. I left with the child I left behind all those years ago that was trapped in that house.

And I'm not fucking sorry.

_So, rabbit,_  
_Please, stop looking the other way._  
_It's cold out there, so why not stay here,_  
_Under my tail?_


	11. The Gluskin Daughter

**This is sometching that I do believe that Eddie's deserves, but at the same time, not many of us would stop and think of all the psychological torment a child would go through, with Eddie's manipulation and wolfish needs. It's not that he would harm a child physically, but perhaps mentally.**

**FYI, this is also another song-fic chapter, with the song "Walking On Air," by Kerli - one that I thought would describe a Gluskin Daughter.**

* * *

_There's a little creepy house,_  
_In a little creepy place._  
_Little creepy town,_  
_In a little creepy world._

**(Five years later...)**

"Darling," Eddie shook the little girl awake. "Darling, it's time to wake up. It's nearly nine o' clock!"

She stirred awake, heavy eye-lids lifting with all their might. She immediately pulled herself up by her arms, looking over her shoulder fast, with a mess of black bangs covering her eyes, as she said to Eddie with a gruff, "... Not now." She squeaked tiredly, sounding nearly annoyed.

But Eddie chuckled to her reaction, pulling the girl out of bed to kiss her hard on the brow. It made her laugh, too, even more when she felt Eddie's fingers comb back her black locks to see her face clearly. Her icy blue eyes met with his, large orbs saying hello back to Daddy. Eddie chuckled when she made a wide grin, the gap between her two front-teeth exposed.

"Go get to the bathroom and wash up. We've work to do." Eddie said, before ruffling her mess of hair. She just made another bubbly giggle, before jumping out of bed, and walking off to her connected bathroom.

Who was this little girl? Oh, it was Eddie's new Daughter.

But don't be fooled. This little girl is hardly his own flesh and blood. She had been given to him.

About five years ago, back in Leadville, Colorado, while Eddie spent time by himself playing basketball in the isolated courtyard, he was suddenly disturbed by the sound of a baby's whine. He stopped dribbling the basketball to looked behind him. When he did, he caught the glimpse of a young girl running away fast, through the bodies of trees. Upon the court, Eddie spotted a lone stroller, covered by a pink baby's blanket to prevent sunlight. But behind the blanket, Eddie could see movement. Kicking, and then, whining of a baby.

He didn't hesitate to discover what was underneath, so he got closer and reached a hand out for the blanket. When he unsheathe the blanket, he discovered that it was indeed a newborn infant. A baby girl, to be precise.

_Little creepy girl,_  
_With her little creepy face,_  
_Saying funny things, that you have never heard._

When he saw her, his heart nearly dropped, his stomach churned. This baby was in poor condition, dirty and sick. She looked drained of life, unable to make a proper whine, due to her small throat being dry. Her patches of hair were missing, and it looked due to pulling. There some fingerprint bruises upon her cheeks and neck, being handled improperly by the parent. A notebook page was pinned onto the baby's blanket underneath, seeming to be scribbled down in a hurry. Eddie detached the letter and read it.

_'I'm young and sixteen. I don't want this responsibility now, because I have a life I need to pursue. You can keep my baby, because I've heard you are great with kids. If you can't keep her, send her to the police station, but I can't keep her. I can't provide for her. She needs a better life than the one I've been giving her. Please, give her the best._

_Thank you. Her name is Katie, by the way.'_

Eddie gladly took the little girl in, overwhelmed by the fact that he was given a baby. It almost felt unreal, handling the baby in his hands as it began to coo and whine some more, but not out of irritation. She just wanted to know where Mommy was. Eddie cradled the baby in his arms and shushed it, having to clean its face from debris and food marks with his sleeve. He immediately took the little girl back home, dragging the stroller behind him.

And of course, Eddie didn't want to stick with the name of Katie. Right away, he changed it.

Now, she was known as Antoinette Maryanne Gluskin. She had been under Eddie's wing for five years, now reaching the precious age of 5, and was being raised by a secret lunatic. But, Eddie had always swore that he wouldn't let anything happen to his children. If he was willing to put himself as a dangerous individual, among the unknown, then he was ready to do so. In order to keep Antoinette. More dangerously enough, he didn't tell anyone else about raising Antoinette... except the Park Family.

By the time the family moved out of Colorado to Washington, Eddie was reaching the age of 51. He was still as active and fit like he were five years ago, but now a few strands of grey were beginning to show. They mostly appeared at his bangs, not slicking back as it normally did when he tamed his short mohawk with gel. The strands began to stick out often on their own, and Eddie had to start pulling them out. Antoinette once pulled out six strands all at once, ripping them out like garden weeds. Of course, it hurt like mad, but Eddie didn't get mad at her, even though his temple was bleeding lightly.

"Daddy," Antoinette hurried to her Father, fully dressed, and hands fumbling with her untied ascot. "Daddy! I forgot how to make a knot."

"You doe-doe," Eddie chuckled, fixing his own tie, before kneeling down to one bent knee and helped fix her scarf. He created the ascot knot quickly, fingers fluid and skillful. After he fixed her scarf up, he stood back up to open the front door. "Come along now."

Sometimes, a handful of people would like to confuse Antoinette for being the biological Daughter to Eddie. Their features spoke of reasons: Antoinette had long, jet-black hair that touched down to her middle-back, follow by having blunt bangs; and she had large, round, brilliant blue eyes; and her skin was as white and pale as Eddie's. Her jaw didn't look as strong as his, honing the classic heart-shape face instead. She definitely wasn't born with his muscular build - instead, she was a healthy, thin girl.

"Daddy, does Waylon like bugs?" Antoinette asked, as she buckled herself into the backseat of their car, parked outside their townhouse. "I found a big spider yesterday in the kitchen." She kicked her feet delightedly, thinking back to her discovery found in their house. "I think it was a hobo-spider. Did you know there's a billion of hobo-spiders in Washington? And they're poisonous!"

Eddie made a small scoff, smirking. "Are you a spider-girl, Tony?" He asked, through her nickname, as he sat in his driver's seat to fished out the car keys from his pants' pocket. "Or, are you not afraid of them?"

"I'm not scared of bugs!" She declared firmly. "I think you're a spider, Daddy."

Eddie rose an eyebrow of interest to that. "Why am I a spider?" He laughed, starting up the car with a turn of the keys in the ignition. The car started smoothly, with the engine roaring out once, before toning its power down to softer purrs.

"Because, uh... Did you know tarantulas make silk out of their webs, to capture food? You make silk at home, and then make clothes out of silk all the time! And then, people wear them!" She kicked both her feet up giddily, giggling happily. "Daddy's a spider!"

And to that, Eddie couldn't help but smile wickedly to himself. Oh, if the little tyke only knew...

_Do you know what it's all about?_  
_Are you brave enough to figure out?_  
_Know that you could set your world on fire,_  
_If you are strong enough to leave your doubts!_

Since the exposure of Murkoff's corruption and abuse within Mount Massive Asylum was presented by filmed documentary by Waylon Park, there had been a massive investigation on the isolated place. Murkoff's most important leaders, minus Blaire out of the equation, had been scattered and running for the hills, evading the police's tactics in being captured. Not only that, but the same leaders had put the Park Family on thin ice, hounding them with the same militia that would come and eliminate them, and destroy other evidence on their corporation.

Since this was discovered, though, the Park Family was put on Witness Protection, now having to make dramatic changes in their lives. They changed their last name, from "Park" to _Pennington_. They moved out of Colorado into Washington state, starting anew with their lives. The family moved out into the rural part of Olympia, Washington, away from the active cities. Lisa decided to renew her business under the new ally, still working in her career. The boys had begun private high school, and Waylon decided to work from home, via computer.

As for Eddie, it was an entirely different dilemma. Since the discovery of the dead variants and doctors mounting in the abandoned Asylum, the investigation pronounced Eddie Gluskin dead. They only did this because they honestly couldn't tell who was who. This gave Eddie all the chances of starting a new life, once they burnt up his previous file. He could be anyone he liked, and lived among society. But, he decided to keep his original name, and continue life as a Father. He did decide to live in Upper Olympia, nearing the urban and rural civilizations equally, also beginning work in the fabric industry, alongside with Lisa.

Of course, Waylon and Lisa both worried about Antoinette's safety. They both knew the extent of Eddie's bipolar depression, and his hostile mood-swings, and worried whether this was even safe for a child to live under the same roof as him. But, Eddie swore up-and-down that he'd never hurt her, reminding Waylon of how many times he's promised that "he'll never let anything happen to their children," as he said back in the Asylum.

As much as Waylon knew Eddie's danger levels, deep down, he found the promise real.

And Eddie kept to his word. He never harmed that little girl. His anger issues began to surface, over the years of working and Fathering, but he never gave his Daughter any look or word to hurt her. Instead, he would excuse himself into another room, and continue punching in cracks and holes into the walls whenever he needed to release the fury. And, as Waylon could remember, Eddie punched hard enough to plow his fist through one wall to the next. He would scream at himself, and then continue kicking in the door until the wood crackled and dent.

But when he wasn't violent, Eddie doted and cherished his precious Daughter. Yes, he would admit, he spoils her rotten as much as possible. He creates her the most beautiful dresses, buys her anything a little girl's heart desires, takes her wherever and whenever, and carries her too much. Carrying and rocking a child too much is just a major ingredient of spoiling.

_She has a little creepy cat,_  
_And a little creepy bat._  
_Little rocking chair,_  
_And an old blue hat._

But, amazingly enough, Antoinette didn't want so much of the doting.

Yes, she loved her Father to death, but, she didn't want all of the attention focused on her. In her preschool she attends, her Teachers have always taught them the importance on focusing, rather than wandering. Antoinette took that to heart, and tried limiting her Father's doting, in order for him to concentrate more in his work. She may have been 5, but she knew her Father needed some boundaries. Others kids' Dads in school didn't dote as much, so maybe Eddie shouldn't as much, either.

She had tried making her Dad stop carrying her so much. She had legs - she could walk, damn it.

She always told him not to keep making her news things, reminding him that she had enough dresses. But, it wouldn't work.

"Stop making me new things, Daddy. You need to focus more on your fabric work." Antoinette scolded her Father, pinching both his cheeks when he picked her up from the floor, once again, to carry her. "Daddy, can't I walk on my own? Your arms must be tired." She has tried everything in the book to talk him out of spoiling her, but that doesn't even help.

He just laughs. "Why would I stop caring for you, sweets?" Eddie kisses her on the side of her face, right at the corner of her eye. This made Antoinette make a confused face. She didn't ask him to stop caring. She simply asked to limit his doting. "You should be given a state. A country! Hell, even the world!" He hugs her close to his chest, pressing another rough kiss on top of her head, making her giggle with a blush. "I'm just being a Father, Darling. It's how every Father should be."

Antoinette honestly didn't trust in that statement. It was rather overstated.

She would have tried to scold him more thoroughly, by showing more emotions, but deep down... the little girl was scared.

Even if Eddie thinks she doesn't witness it, Antoinette had seen him lose his control. She had actually peeked in the forbidden room that he uses to release his nerve, and watched him aggressively attack the thick walls with flying punches and iron kicks. There were plowed holes peppering the room's four walls. There was also three holes in the ceiling, somehow. She heard him screaming profanity and slurs about the coworkers he worked with in his fabric industry, how they kept screwing up and how they deserved to die. She's seen that wild look in his face, and how his pupils suddenly shrunk when he saw something to destroy.

When he would finish, she would have to run straight back to the spot he saw her last, and pretend nothing happened.

Antoinette wasn't a stupid girl. She knew people had their issues, and dealt with them with help or personal therapy. But, as she watched her Father's rage explode in that lone room, it was like watching a tiger going rampant within an iron cage. He needed out, but, from what? She had no idea about his dark past, so, she was left to always believe that Daddy was just a little different. Just slightly edgy... Just a bit.

Witnessing these many events, it became harder for Antoinette to wholly confront her Father about his doting. If she told him to give her space... would he take that as some threat, rather than a request? It almost seemed possible. Eddie was known to never take rejection well. If he ever was...

Antoinette was scared. Very scared.

But, she couldn't be mad at him, either. She never once had a shred of hate towards the man. Whenever he was done releasing the animal within his makeshift cage of a room, he would instantly come back to her as the smiling Daddy he wanted to be to her. He never showed hate towards her, and he had no reason to. His eyes always spoke truth, whenever he said he loved her. Antoinette knew her Father didn't hate her. He just... he was just... well, there was no real answer for what he was. Perhaps she would never know the answer?

_That little creepy girl,_  
_Oh, she loves to sing!_  
_She has a little gift,_  
_An amazing thing!_

From the time work was over, Antoinette was sitting in the car, in the back seat as always, waiting for Eddie. He had forgotten his jacket within the building, and had to run back inside to fetch it. This was actually the first time he's left her alone within the vehicle.

Of course, Antoinette was a little scared, sitting in the immobile car on her own, in deep silence. She did think back to the thing Daddy told her though, when she heard about never taking to strangers. The area was seemingly bustling fairly with some evening activity - people coming out of work to get back home, bikers and walkers passing by nonchalantly, cars driving by quietly or with bumpy loud music. Nobody was coming to bother her, but still, Antoinette wouldn't think of talking.

Eddie had actually made it into a small tale for Antoinette to remember it by. She recited it often to herself, in case she forgot.

Antoinette began to honestly think of animals, instead of the meaningful term behind it. She thought of a Christmas reindeer, a pink, baby rabbit, and the Big Bad Wolf.

"Wait, please! Leave me be!" A voice outside the car sounded out, bringing Antoinette out of her bubbly thoughts. Outside, there was a red-haired man, running straight out of the fabric building in a hurry. "No, stop! I swear, I didn't mean it!"

'_A reindeer, that lives in a small house in the forest, hears a noise outside his window. He peeks out the pane to see a little rabbit hopping to his door.'_

"Jarrod! Jarrod! Lemme in the car!" The red haired-man hurried to a car, parked just in front of Eddie's car, pounding on the passenger window. "It's Eddie! He's fucking pissed off again at me! C'mon, open the door! He's coming!" The red-haired man looked mover his shoulder constantly, seeing Antoinette's Father coming out of the tall building fast, with a pair of shiny, silver scissors in one hand. Eddie was approaching fast.

'_Knock-knock! "Let me in!" The rabbit cries. "A wolf is out to eat me!"_

Jarrod, the random friend in the car in front of Antoinette, immediately unlocked the door, and threw it open for the red-haired man. The frightened man quickly hopped in, slamming the door behind him, and the car sped off fast.

_'The reindeer obliges. "Come in, rabbit. Please hurry, and don't let him in!"_

"Useless fat sack of piss!" Eddie screamed to the top of his lungs, at the direction the runaway drove off into. He gripped the scissors harder, to where the sharpened sides began to snag and prickle at his exposed palm. "You ruin another fucking dress, and I fucking swear, you'll-!" Eddie turned and saw Antoinette in the car. He completely forgot about her, for that moment of aggression. He paused on his threat, jaw slacked and eyes wide. They looked wild, unreadable. But, there was no doubt that he was fuming mad. Right there, he had to think of something else to say.

As he approached the driver's side of the car, Antoinette began to become fidgety in her seat. She watched in... fear... as Daddy came to the door with those scissors. She brought up both her legs to her chest to hug them close, feeling nothing else to cling onto for help. The door propped open...

'_The wolf, it waits! The wolf, he says he's friendly, but don't open that door. He is hungry for you to say, 'it's okay,' so that you will open that door...'_

"Darling, I'm so sorry for making you wait! You must be tired!" Eddie switched straight back to Father dearest, tossing the scissors to the passenger's seat as he made a hearty chuckle. "I couldn't find my jacket! Oh, but, it's fine. I'm sure it'll turn up tomorrow!" He gave her a wide, friendly grin, before jumping into the driver's seat. He shut the driver's door and took out the keys from his pocket, going to start the vehicle.

_With her little funny eyes of hazel,_  
_With her little funny old blue hat,_  
_She will go and set the world on fire._  
_No one ever thought she could do that!_

* * *

Once it was nightfall, Antoinette had retired to her bedroom early, to avoid dinner. She didn't feel comfortable any longer, sitting in the same room with Father. As much as she knew he would of been hurt by her decision to not spend time with him downstairs, she needed her space to think. Of course, he should have understood the reason why Antoinette wanted to excuse herself early, after witnessing part of his rampage from today's confrontation. He would have mostly lied about the whole ordeal, and Antoinette knew it.

She spent her entire time in her bedroom coloring, or watching cartoons on her television set. But all the brainstorming initially led down to sleeping, as the little girl accidentally fell asleep on the floor, hugging her stuffed cat toy in her arms. The television set was still running, but quietly in a lower volume, as her bedside lamp was her only source of light in her bedroom. It was quiet now.

_'Antoinette?!' Eddie's voice suddenly rang out loudly, but sounding more echoy and fargone. Antoinette snapped opened her eyes to darkness, her stuffed animal no longer in her arms. 'Antoinette, you open this fucking door, right now!' Her Father's words blasted like cannon fire, and just in time with the sudden pounding and banging on her closed door. 'Fucking BITCH!'_

_Petrified, Antoinette screamed and ran to the corner of her pitch black room. She sat in a fetal position, hugging the wall, as she endured more of Father's outrageous slurs and pounding of something heavy at the wooden door. She began crying, feeling helpless and scared, as her nails clawed at the wall for a way out. The windows didn't exist anymore. Everything was against her._

_The door finally kicked open, and emerged an enraged Father, with glowing crimson eyes flashing in the darkness, and a familiar, shny glimpse of scissors in his hand again. His pupils were shrunk, but they were clearly staring dead-on at Antoinette. 'You fucking bitch! I said go to FUCKING BED.' Eddie's voice was distorted, sounding more like four men were speaking at once. Blood oozed out of his eyes like tears, and his teeth looked sharp and large like a wolf's. 'You never listen, Tony... You never do...' He approached her fast, scissors rose up into the air to strike down..._

"NO, DAD! DON'T!" Antoinette screamed bloody murder, having been woke by the sudden touch of a hand at her thrashing wrist. When her eyes snapped open, she found herself breathing fast. She found herself in her regular room, with the lamp light on, and the television set on. Her chest was thumping, and her stomach felt physically ill. But her thoughts went out the window when she saw her Father at the opened door of her bedroom.

"Darling! Are you okay?!" Eddie hurried to his Daughter, absolutely worried. "Why're you on the floor? Why're you screaming-?"

"No, don't!" Antoinette started backing herself away from Eddie, physically shaking. "D-Don't hurt me, Dad!" Antoinette's eyes were wide, and her face was just pale and thick of quaking fear.

_Flitter up..._  
_And hover down..._  
_Be all around..._

Eddie paused where he was, yielding. He couldn't believe what he just heard from his own Daughter. Not hurt her? Why would he ever do that? Eddie didn't know whether to laugh, or to cry. He wanted to do both, but, from the way his Daughter looked on at him with those terrified eyes, his heart was breaking into two pieces, just like paper being torn apart. He didn't know what to honestly say! He quickly tried his best to say anything to make Antoinette stop fearing his very presence.

"Antoinette, honey, please! It was just a bad dream! Daddy would NEVER hurt you! Please, Darling, j-just think about this!" He began to panic more, when he tried taking a step towards her, because she instantly moved back with a start. "Was it because I was angry earlier, at that man? O-Oh, please, Darling! It was nothing! Please, I would never be mad at you like that! I swear!" It began to start going from reasoning to pleading, the more Antoinette started to tear up and move back as much as possible. "Why would I hurt you?! I would NEVER hurt you!"

But, Antoinette shook her head firmly, with a sniffle. "I keep seeing you going crazy in that room in the house! You keep screaming and punching and kicking and... and...! You-You went after someone today with scissors! Daddy, I-I'm..." She took a breath to admit it, "I'm scared of you."

Eddie almost felt his world crumble before him. This wasn't what he wanted... He didn't want his own child to fear him!

"I can change! I really can!" He begged, frantically now, feeling as if his Daughter was slipping from him. "I just want to make you happy, Tony! I wouldn't hurt you, ever! EVER!" He put both his hands over the sides of his head, panicking himself. "I-I can get help. I'll stop being like this! I'll do whatever it takes to not make you scared anymore! Just - please, Tony, don't HATE ME."

To just hear the words of Antoinette being so scared of her own Father made him fall. Never, had he ever wanted to hear those words from his Daughter. He cared less if he heard it from another imbecile, but... from his own child? Eddie was in the state of desperation now, thinking if he had made one more slip up, Antoinette would decide to leave him forever. He loathed that, not ever, ever, EVER wanting to release his Daughter from his care. His love and embrace. It would have to be Satan that would have to exhume and destroy him, in order to let Antoinette be free.

Eddie was a mess now, on his knees and gripping at his hair in frustration and shock. His eyes were unfocused, his mind reeling. Hearing his Daughter crying because of him was everything that struck him down. No God, this wasn't what he wanted!

_You know that I love you, go on._

"... Dad...?" Antoinette could see the stress in her Father's face, how destroyed he looked. "Dad...?" She looked at us bowed head with watery eyes, unsure of what to do while he was down like this. Perhaps she should just try and move away? Or, comfort him? "Daddy... I don't hate you. I'm just... scared that you'll get mad at me one day and h-hurt me-"

But Antoinette couldn't finish her sentence on time when Eddie darted right at her, with such speed. She thought he was going to throttle her, but instead, she was gulped into a forceful embrace. He held onto her tightly, muscular arms wrapped around her small body to keep her close. Antoinette froze like a startled antelope, unable to decided whether to move or stay.

"I would never get mad at you, for anything! I would never harm you, ever!" Eddie cried, kissing the top of her head. "I won't hurt you. I won't, never, ever, Antoinette! I love you too much to cause so much pain!"

Antoinette stood firmly on her grounds. "Dad, get help. You need a doctor. You need to stop being hostile!" She insisted, hitting the side of her small fist against his shoulder lightly. "I don't want to see you so angry all the time... anymore..." She then hugged her weeping Father around his sides.

"Anything to keep you." Eddie cried, and sadly cried, all at once.

Was it even a right choice?

_I am walking on air._


	12. It's A Date, Then

**It's about time for Waylon and Eddie to go on a date.**

**I'm sorry, but I'll admit it: I'm very scared of many things. Uneasy feelings of ending up alone, and being lost within a dismal world I don't know anything about. I feel trapped all at the same time, though, sticking at home with people I just stare at. My parents isolated me from the world for years, making me a real hermit. I wouldn't understand the idea of escaping, and now, I feel that there is no easy way out.**

* * *

It was a special evening planned. Within Seattle's city, in a community called Chinatown, there was a Japanese festival being hosted. Eddie and Waylon took the most interest in this particular festival, because it was a large celebration dedicated to Death and many deceased spirits. Just thinking back to Death made the two asylee's revert back to the misadventures in the Mount Massive Asylum, and how they have also witness handfuls of deaths and chaos. Why not go and honor those spirits?

Waylon got dressed in his casual wear, and bid farewell to his family. He had actually lied to them - telling them that he was going to hang out with Eddie at a bar and watch boxing. It was something Waylon did enjoy watching, but that evening, he wasn't in the mood for sports. Antoinette was to stay with Lisa and the boys, since Eddie would obviously trust no stranger-friend to babysit his baby girl.

"Hey, you." Waylon walked down the short steps off his porch, to be met by his lovely friend of five years.

Eddie was standing outside his car, leaning back against it with his arms folded. Eddie was also dressed casual as fuck, but nonetheless, he was wearing a plain black waist-coat and a blue tie. That old habit didn't seem to die. "Hello, Darling." He smiled at him widely, seeing how Waylon looked almost silently overjoyed to see him again. Eddie was as well. "Are you ready for our date?" He asked, with a raise of one eyebrow.

Waylon chuckled, teeth flashing as he grinned happily. "What is this, a high school date?"

"Well..." Eddie decided to joke along, "if your Dad doesn't come out here and ask me twenty questions, with a loaded shotgun, then yes." Eddie stepped aside of the passenger door to open it. He then gestured a hand out for Waylon. "After you, my Darling." He bowed his head.

Waylon almost wanted to kick him, for being so damn courteous. He just patted Eddie on the side of his face snarkily before hopping in the car. Once his door was closed, Eddie paced around the front of his vehicle fast to the driver's side, while Waylon watched him with a smile. Eddie opened up his door and climbed in while making a saucy smirk at his date, sitting comfortably in his seat before slamming his door shut. They sat there for a while, as the car continued to run without moving. Waylon wondered what Eddie was waiting for...

"Waylon." Eddie turned his head to him.

"Yes?" Waylon looked at him as well.

"Seatbelt." Eddie eyed his seatbelt and the buckle.

Waylon made a thin line of his lips, rolling his eyes. But still thought it was cute. When he pulled his seatbelt over his chest to buckle down, Eddie leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Waylon froze for a moment, but felt that same, pleased smile stretch across his face. He turned his head to his date, and they both shared their kiss they hadn't exchanged in two months.

It almost felt like their first kiss, from the way Waylon made a nervous chuckle, and Eddie couldn't help but feel his lips tingle from their touch. They parted for a brief moment, laughing at each other, before trying again. When they locked lips, Waylon felt Eddie's hand snake up to his cheek, cupping it as he held him there for the moment to soak in his taste. Their wet tongues slid and tangled together slowly, their flavors never decreased as they remembered them to be. Their mouths were wet, and lips smacked when they parted and reconnected.

Blissfully, Waylon felt his spirit rekindle brightly.

It's been a long two months, since the two had kissed properly. Their relationship, shockingly enough, was still a secret between families. Waylon didn't want to let go of Eddie, since the day of their escape. And, Eddie was just being downright greedy for his lover. Even if he also loved Lisa, Eddie would still imply how much of a better spouse he would be to Waylon instead. It was so mean.

"Sweet, as I remember you." Eddie nipped at Waylon's bottom lip playfully.

Waylon pecked one more kiss to Eddie's chin, before he let him sit back in his seat to begin driving.

* * *

The drive to Chinatown was a little ways away, going into an hour drive. But, the entire ride there didn't feel so very long. Waylon and Eddie both had their time to catch up about their lives apart, speaking about their home lives and how work was going along. All their amicable conversations would then lead down to refreshing memories of the years spent together in their new hometown of Olympia. Eddie would always admit he liked Washington better than Colorado, but of course, Waylon still missed his birth place. Even if it was now the Hell that would kill them.

Hearing Eddie's voice again, it almost felt as if the world would pause and listen. Everything felt calm, grown in deep silence, whenever Eddie spoke or laughed, his voice still strong and enchanting, even with that funny lisp that Waylon had come to enjoy.

Fourty minutes or so in their drive, and Waylon let out a bark of short laughter, slapping his knee. "So, wait - you don't know_ anything_ about the Japanese culture?!" He looked right at his date with a stupid grin. "Eddie Gluskin! You've lived in this society for five years, and you don't know anything about Japan?!" He was literally standing on the balancing point of humiliating Eddie and being outraged by the damn man. "Didn't you know that Lisa's of Japanese culture, though? We have a Japanese family altar honoring her passed grandparents!"

"I _knew_! ... Somewhat...?" Eddie shrugged unsurely.

Waylon deadpanned at him.

"I thought she was _Cantonese_!" Eddie tried excusing himself.

By the time they had arrived to Chinatown, they had to make a parking within a college's lot, because of the festival's location blocking off any vehicles entering the premise. The entire feat was hosted upon a large district block, surrounding Chinatown's famous international shopping district. It was a massive location that was used many times over in the past for festivals, such as celebrating the Chinese New Year and the symbolic Dragon. There was obviously a massive crowd overwhelming the area, dressed-up or decorated in beautiful accessories.

Eddie and Waylon walked through the giant shrine gate that was the entrance into the district, shamelessly hand-in-hand.

When they arrived, they could hear the heartbeats of the multiple taiko drums thumping in the closed distance. Asian languages flew about, laughing or shouting to one another, thrown around, and Eddie had no clue who was saying what. Waylon, on the other hand, could understand precisely to what a handful of the parties were saying. He could make-out all the difference between their foreign languages, hearing Chinese, then Korean, and a good amount of loud Japanese. Lisa had taught him enough Japanese to have an all-day conversation in the native tongue.

Young girls and older women wore traditional kimonos, feet making constant _klaking_ noises due to their sturdy wooden-sandels. Men were not all dressed traditionally - some looked casual or nicely dressed as Waylon and Eddie. Some men did wear kimonos, that were in darker tones of shade that opposed the women's bright and rejuvenating pink and white kimonos. Paper fans were in hands, or unlit paper lanterns. Some children scouring about the bustling grounds had plush toys won from game-stands. Songs being sang in the Japanese language could be heard from the performance stage not too far away.

"How unique!" Eddie couldn't help but finally admit, excited over all the beauty. "This culture is so... so beautiful!"

Waylon looked to Eddie's beaming face, and couldn't help but stare at him for that brief moment. He hadn't seen Eddie very outgoing lately, since the two had lived in separate homes. Eddie mostly looked drawn, one-tracked and thoughtful. Seeing him grinning with that familiar gleam again...

"You're face is looking great." Waylon couldn't help but notice as well, now looking more clearly at Eddie's profile. "Your scars have begun to heal..." The two stopped walking, in a spacious spot, for Waylon to examine it more closely.

It was true. Ever since those five years of healing had passed, Eddie's old scars had soothed and show no red markings as they did in the past. The blisters that rose on his face during the Walrider experiment had disappeared entirely, luckily leaving no skin marks. But, the carved knife lines in his face hadn't closed. Instead, they became engraved dents on his disfigured side. His eyes had healed of no blackness, but smear spots of black and red were lightly visible in the whites of his large eyes. Surely, that was some success.

Waylon reached a hand up to bris his fingers over the carved lines, feeling how they habited Eddie's strong features. "Still handsome, though." He assured him with a comb of his thumb over his cheekbone lovingly. The two made immediate eye-contact, closing the gap between each other to kiss, when all at once-

"Hello!" Two Japanese girls popped out of nowhere, surprising the couple. They spoke with a heavy British accent.

The two girls were both twin Sisters, completely identical to one another. They even had the same weight and height, and even wore matching butterfly-designed white kimonos. The only difference was that one Sister had angled bangs, while the other had blunt ones. "Sorry to interrupt you two but," the Sister with angled-bangs eyed both Waylon and Eddie with a cute smile, "are you two a couple here?"

Eddie made an annoyed grunt. Waylon elbowed his date in the arm to hush him.

"Yes, we are." Waylon decided to answer truthfully.

"Well, then," the other twin with blunt-bangs stepped forward and pulled out two items from her large kimono sleeves. They were neon necklaces made of tough golden wool strings, with large and small crimson glass-beads laced into it. In the center, there was a large, red glass-bead, shaped as half of a heart. Both the necklaces were identical, with one piece of a glass heart attached onto it. "Wear these for the entire festival! They symbolize your status here, and commencement!"

"... Commencement?" Eddie squeaked nervously, reluctantly taking a necklace after Waylon did.

"The Shadow Festival celebrates those who have passed along, and thank the Shinigami for taking them to Salvation." The first Sister began explaining. "There has been many couples whom died together, but their spirits do not entwin through death. The Shinigami may forget to take them both together, and one of the lovers may become lost and alone..."

"So, for this event, we will honor those who are alive, and in love." Both Sisters smiled widely at Eddie and Waylon. "Wear these necklaces, and when the ritual of commencement is finished blessing those here that are an item, then they will be bound together, forever."

"From life..." The the Sister with blunt-bangs rose one hand.

"... To death." The other Sister with angled-bangs lifted her opposite hand.

The information was enough to make both Waylon and Eddie give each other unsure glances, but slip on the necklaces to not make the girls upset. Once they were on, the twins also informed them to go and buy kimonos for the commencement, as an addition to the festival's special. Since the price for the garb wasn't so much, the two decided to go and see what was interesting.

"Bound together forever...?" Eddie murmured to himself, as he slipped on a black male kimono. "I didn't think such commitment was so serious in different cultures." He snorted a short chuckle, tying the sash around his waist.

"Believe me, Eddie - Japanese people are very serious about their beliefs. You don't want to mess with them." Waylon warned him fast, also trying out a light-orange male kimono. "Eh, these kimonos aren't so bad. I mean, at least we didn't have to take off our normal clothes." He turned around to let Eddie see. "Pretty comfortable, I think." He lifted up one arm to adjust a long sleeve.

The boys had properly wore the traditional kimonos with comfort, lucky not to wear no wooden-sandels. They simply wore the garb over their casual clothes, politely tucking in their collars to not show their shirts underneath. While Waylon looked festive, Eddie looked suddenly calm and abnormally lax. Waylon was just glad he didn't feel suffocated in too many clothes.

After they paid, Waylon thanked the saleswoman with a bow of his head to her, as she did the same. Eddie didn't understand it, but he assumed it was a good thing.

"The commencement is soon." Waylon informed, as he and Eddie held hands again. "Are you scared?"

Eddie made a snort. "Scared? Of what?"

Once again, Waylon deadpanned at the man. He obviously didn't understand what those Sisters were talking about. "Eddie - think. This Shadow Festival is all about honoring and remembering. And, since they're now going to honor the lovers alive, it's basically a marriage." Waylon rolled his eyes. How could this bimbo not realize it before? "Well, then again, you don't have to be scared-"

But Eddie was already bricked. His face drained pale, and his eyes nearly popped out of his skull. What? A marriage? A _marriage_?! He began panicking, stumbling where he was trying to walk, and nearly falling sometimes, hadn't he held Waylon's hand. "D-Darling! I, uh-!" He couldn't breathe, so he nicked a random-man's paper-fan fast, and started fanning himself in the reddening face. "I had no fucking clue! I hadn't thought this culture would-!" He feverishly shook his head. "They tricked me! Those girls, with their cute faces... Their little swinish eyes...!"

"Whoa, hey, Eddie," Waylon and his date stopped walking. "Stop being so worried. It's not until another thirty minutes. Think on it for a while, okay?" He said in a comforting voice, lifting his hand up to smooth his palm over Eddie's slick-back mohawk. "I don't know about you, but I would like to have this commencement..." He murmured, giving a small peck to Eddie's stilled lips. "You can blow off some of that steam with a bit of games, alright? How about you win me a prize?" Waylon turned to a game booth, pulling a disoriented Eddie along.

The game booths were almost the same as American ones. Some were very odd, such as gold-fishing with fragile paper-nets; dart throwing at Shinigami noses; and kareoke contests. One elder Asian man, a little too enthusiastic, was scream-singing on Carry Underwood's song 'Before He Cheats,' and he somehow won at the end of the small competition. There were old-fashion bottle games, goldfish balling, and other such.

Eddie was a baller on the bottle game. When Waylon lost the first challenge, the salesman tried bribing him for more money to play. Of course, Eddie decided to play, and when he picked up that baseball, he was going all out like a madman. Three stacks of bottles were knocked right off the counter with direct aim, and after the salesman reluctantly gave Waylon the oversized-carnivore plant plush he won, Eddie drilled a baseball in the cheapskate's face for making them pay double for the lousey game.

"Check these out, Eddie." Waylon stood at a new booth now, that was selling masks. "These masks looked real unique."

"Oh, and they are!" The salesman from behind the counter suddenly popped out of nowhere, surprising Waylon with a helpless yelp. "Greetings, greetings, fellow partiers! Have you come to reveal your inner-spirit animals?" The salesman smiled like a Cheshire cat, with his perfectly uniformed teeth flashing widely in a grin so forced and jovial. "You've chosen right, to come and see the Happy Mask Salesman!" The middle-aged man made a bellow of laughter while holding him chest, still smiling.

Eddie just folded his arms, unsure of this man.

"You look as if you've been met by a terrible fate, haven't you...?" The mask man eyed Eddie out of darkly interest. Eddie made a flinch, glaring at him now. "Why not put a happy mask on? To make those troubles hide away for a while!" He soundly grabbed for a mask hanging off a dangerously sharpened hook dangling from the booth ceiling, and presented it to the couple. "The Mask of the Keaton, worn once by a man who was cursed with a witch's spell and doomed to never return to normal. He wore this mask to hide himself from the world, and away from his loved one that waited for days and days for his return. He tricked others into believing he was okay, that nothing was wrong, but, it was all lies."

Eddie took complete offense to the description of the mask. Did this man seriously think this was reflecting him-?

"I'll buy it." Eddie retched the mask from the thin man's boney hands. Why the fuck not?

After Eddie paid, the salesman then handed Waylon a different mask. "The Mask of Bremen. Not only did the person behind it once show leadership, but it also represented care, love, and parenting to those lost and in need for guidance." The mask was a bird, with wings outstretched on both sides of the mask, all made of smooth wood, just like the Keaton mask.

Of course, Waylon liked the description, and bought it.

"Heh..." Eddie couldn't help but shake his head at how Waylon looked in the ridiculous mask. "If this is the face of a leader, no wonder no one can find one."

"Shut up. It's cool." Waylon finished fitting the mask on his face. He dropped his arms, and turned his head side-to-side to test out the wings. He could see perfectly through the eyeholes, and the mask itself fitted comfortably, but... "These wings are going to smack you all day long, Eddie." Waylon chuckled bubbily, showing up Eddie's Keaton mask with a hard peck to his covered forehead with the beak of his Bremen mask.

"Hahaha..." Eddie dryly laughed, not amused. "Talk about bird-brain."

The two continued walking together through the festive street, now admiring the sights and sounds of what the festival has brought. Round, red paper lanterns lit up rhythmically as dusk began to shelter on Chinatown, yet no one left. Many other young or elder couples passing by were also dressed and decorated with the commencement accessories, chattering and laughing together. They also seemed anxious for the commencement ritual, as some of the ladies repeatedly looked to their wristwatches for the time, or when they would check the performance stage for the head-bringer's presence.

"Hmph." Eddie made a sounding smirk. "Just look at us, Darling." He squeezed Waylon's hand in his. "Normal people, everywhere we go, and here we are... two asylees on a date." He found the dark humor in it. "I still find it funny these days."

"Jeezy, Eddie. Such a downer." Waylon swung both their hands back-and-forth, hugging his plush toy in his other arm. But, he understood the meaning behind it, as Eddie continued chuckling lowly to the society around them. It was definitely real.

_Gong!_

"Attention, partiers!" A booming, loud voice from a microphone off the emptied performance stage announced. "The moment has arrived for the commencement ritual! Find your better half fast, and stand together proudly with hands in one." It sounded like one of the Sisters.

As some youngsters went hurrying to their pair, and some couples standing with their other, Eddie and Waylon stood together with their hands together.

It was only a few seconds later until the voice came back. The taiko drums had ceased. "We would like to honor those alive, and those dead, that were and are in love. Death is a strong spirit, to come and take our lost souls to Salvation. Love is more powerful than words, though. Even if there is the good, the bad, and the ugliest moments between love and hate, death bounds us together as one throughout the Afterlife. With this commencement ritual, you two will finally be together, forever, in glorious Death!" She declared in such cheery enthusiasm.

The microphone was handed to the other Sister. "If you're single here, don't participate. You may be accidentally bound to a stranger in the Afterlife." She joked with a loud laugh, along with most of every partier laughing along. "Your necklaces signify your commencement. These particular glass-beads were used in old Japanese era to please the ghosts and passed spirits to acknowledgement and care. Standing next to your significant other, please connect the two hearts."

As told, every couple took each others' hearts and connected them like lockets.

"Now, turn to your lover, and tell them your wishes. For love and death."

Waylon and Eddie turned to each other, their necklace pendants locked together. Eddie and Waylon looked at one another nervously, chuckling awkwardly and shifting their weight. Of course, this was something Eddie wasn't seriously prepared for. Five years ago wouldn't even have him prepared for something as committed as this moment of promise. Thoughts ran away, and all he could do was just stand there like a douchebag and say nothing to the only man he loved the most.

"I've never stopped thinking about you, Eddie. I hadn't forgot the day we met." Waylon suddenly started, surprising Eddie.

"When we first met, I knew I couldn't escape you. I thought for sure I would have to die, had you got your hands on me. I can't really remember the number of times I wanted to make a farewell video to anyone that found my camcorder..." Waylon continued looking up to Eddie's blue eyes thoughtfully. "But then, I began to understand that... you were just lonely. You're fallable, yes, and you're worlds apart from what happiness is. I thought you just needed someone to hold your hand, and tell you that everything was okay. No one would come back to hurt you again. Because I'm here." Waylon smiled up to Eddie, a lift of his spirit rose when he saw Eddie's face uncertain, but touched. "Now that I think back to those days in the Asylum, I would honestly say that... it was definitely fate's idea!" Waylon grinned widely like a cat, making Eddie grin back with a bubbly chuckle.

Eddie hummed thoughtfully, leaning in to press both their foreheads together. "I would still marry you, Darling." He admitted, eyes soft and drawn. "I would always think of you, nonstop, everytime I'm at home. I want you to be with me, more than anything... More than gold could give me." But he snorted to himself. "I shouldn't be so greedy, though. I tell you that I love you everyday on the phone, on stupid emails, and even on Skype. I've wanted nothing more but to kiss the fucking shit out of you, and then blame you for making me feel so... in love. I've wanted to kidnap you again, and just runaway with you, and keep you for myself... Even in death, I wish to continue holding you. For as long as a millennium..."

"Now," the Sisters spoke loudly in unison, in the shared microphone. "By the power invested in our deity above, and the Shinigami's hand holding onto yours, we entwined your souls into eternity. As we release the dead's blessings, we honor yours."

Was the moment to unleash the hundreds of paper lanterns into the sky. People below the darkness, holding onto their lit lanterns, saw the moment to let them fly. They unhooked their fingers from the bottom of the lanterns, and watched them gently float away into the cold air. A sky full of lighters dotted like a thousands stars, out of the dark, into a world to cherish those that will receive their living ones' love. The twin Sisters let go of a lantern of their own, with the Kanji writing on the paper lantern remembering their passed parents in Salvation.

"Where have you been my whole afterlife?" Eddie asked Waylon, before the two finally kissed under the lights.

* * *

"... Ah... Eddie..."

"Hush, Darling..."

After the Shadow Festival fun, Waylon and Eddie called it a night, deciding to drive back now. They were gone for nearly four hours, having a blast together. But all that pumped adrenaline and blood in his veins made Eddie Gluskin one eager man. They were only halfway down the highway, until Eddie decided to turn into a nearby park to have a celebration of his own with his precious Darling man. The two drove up to a dark spot in the park, upon a dreary hill clouded in the night's steam.

Waylon laid sprawled in the backseat if the car, holding onto Eddie's shoulders as the Groom's body hovered closely over his, rolling his hips into his. Lips locked and smacked, as Waylon let out some small moans and grunts as Eddie humped against his aching groin. The two were still dressed, enjoying the rough texture and feeling of their denim jeans rutting against each others' covered crotches, to the sound of their zippers grinding and clanking against each other. It felt more riveting as Eddie had Waylon's leg hoisted up high in the loop of his arm, giving more access to turn him on.

Of course, it was a stupid idea, to be doing something so secret and obscene in a public park. But, honestly, the two horndogs couldn't wait an entire hour to get back to Eddie's unoccupied house. Besides, there was hardly a crowd in the park, and the car windows were heavily tinted, anyways. What could possibly happen?

"Shit, Eddie, stop dry-humping me." Waylon swore quietly, smoothing his hand over Eddie's taut chest. "I need you."

Eddie lapped at Waylon's lips another few times, as he begun undoing his own jeans quick. Waylon did the same, their knuckles brushing against another's as they unbuttoned their flies and slid their belts off. Once Waylon had his jeans undone, Eddie eagerly grabbed for pants-legs and slipped them off fast, then throwing them into the front of the car at its dashboard. And just when the Groom was about to snag his fingers at the hem of the technician's boxers, Waylon reacted quickly and shoved Eddie away.

"Take your clothes off." Waylon purred, hooking his fingers over Eddie's waistcoat collar to pull him in for a quick kiss.

"Oh, so eager." Eddie kissed him a second time, before he allowed him to pull off his tie.

Moments after shucking out of their clothes, and Eddie was sitting squared in the backseat with Waylon in his lap, both stark naked. Eddie's fingers were inside of Waylon's arse, between his legs, as he let his digits prod and pet and brush against his Bride's most sensitive spot. But he noticed as well, even through Waylon's moans and riding on his fingers, that he seemed pliable.

"Have you been playing with yourself, Darling?" Eddie smiled wickedly, as he gave another scratch to that spot. Waylon flinched and writhed, hands gripping at Eddie's broad shoulders for dear life. But he nodded his head fast, rubbing his heaving chest against the other man's. Eddie felt a bolt of lightening shoot down from his spine to his groin. "Have you missed me that much, you whore?" He made a slight face to that question, wondering if it were too soon to call him that.

But Waylon responded with a hand gripping the back of Eddie's head, and smothering their lips together in another wetted kiss. "I am a whore..." Waylon hissed against Eddie's lips. "A fucking whore for _you._"

Eddie made a satisfied exhale to the sound of that, before pulling his fingers out of his little slut. Waylon wanted to get fucked, and he meant it when he wanted it _hard._ Eddie shoved him down to his back, with Waylon now laying in-between the driver's and passenger's seats, gripping both the shoulders as Eddie saddled his backside onto his lap, strong hands gripping both hips. Eddie put one leg up underneath of himself, and leaned in between the seats to kiss his date. Waylon wrapped his arms around Eddie's shoulders as they licked each others' tongues.

"Ah-!" Waylon's eyes snapped open when he felt the first thrust of Eddie's impressive length slid inside of him, but felt no pain. He just felt too full. He's fingered himself enough to know just how big Eddie was inside of his hole. Instead, he let out a staggered exhale, looping one arm up to cup the to of Eddie's skull, gripping onto his mohawk. "It's been too long..." He quietly pecked at Eddie's chin, while watching the Groom's face.

Eddie looked ready to fuck him senseless, but held back to not hurt Waylon. When he began pulling back to see any reaction, he saw Waylon make a small twitch of his eye - finally feeling the igniting pain return. Eddie licked his lips, his heart thumping as he saw that look. He almost forgot how much he loved to savor and drink in his Bride's torment. His most vulnerable face he could only look at, and his eyes only. He swooped in fast to kiss at Waylon's lips, tasting his anxiety like candy, and it was still as sweet.

Another thrust into Waylon, and he found his spot.

"Ah - yes!" Waylon gasped out desperately, clawing at Eddie's back with his other hand. "Oh God, please, Eddie...!"

Eddie made his own flashy grin again, before he started rutting into his whiny Bride, both Waylon's legs now up and touching the car ceiling. Waylon began to make obscene gasps and moans as he gripped harder to Eddie's body, his head tilted back and eyes trying to stay open. His spot was being jabbed and jabbed over and over again, his sweaty back sliding back and forth on the divider separating the front seats. He let himself get lost in the moment, being kissed on the chest by his lover and caressed as he wished to be handled. Eddie always did say he would worship him like a trophy.

Eddie's hips rolled against Waylon so thoroughly, his slick muscle sliding in and out of his Darling so smoothly. "My God, Waylon... I would fuck you all night, if I could." He chuckled under his breath, when he saw Waylon crack open one eye at him. "Would you like me to fill you up? Make you whole? You don't have to feel so empty anymore, as long as I'm right here." He smooched his Bride on the wet forehead.

"F-Fuck me, Eddie." Waylon parted his lips to kiss at Eddie's jaw. "Fuck me _senseless_."

The car began rocking more than before, shifting back and forth as the wild animals in the vehicle were going rampant. Waylon's bottled cries Eddie's has been trying so hard to wring out of him finally uncaged, sweet screams and vulgar talk blaring out louder than the taiko drums at the festival. Eddie was unable to hold himself back, doing as Waylon requested when he asked to get fucked up senselessly. To Eddie's ears, Waylon sounded like a woman getting laid hard like in the explicit pornos. Which was what he liked hearing.

"O-Oh, fuck, Eddie!" Waylon gasped out, digging in deep, red lines into his Groom's back. "I'm gonna come...!" He warned quickly.

"Uh-huh." Eddie panted out fast, still surging his hips into Waylon's, mind-boggled by the intense built-up of pleasure churning in his stomach and midsection. "Kiss me, now. Slut." Eddie demanded in short breaths, using one of his large hands to grab at the side of Waylon's jaw, to have his man looking right at him. Waylon, despite the name he was called by, eagerly moved himself up to smash his lips with Eddie's in another smeary kiss. He held onto him as his arse began to feel raw, and his body shaky.

He held tight to his Groom another time, as that familiar cringe of his end felt high. He broke the kiss to wail out loudly, throwing his head back to his fierce orgasm. His come splashed between their bellies, his hand gripping the back of Eddie's skull hard enough to rip more than a few strands of his short mohawk out.

"Always coming before me." Eddie laughed breathlessly, before thrusting sharply into Waylon with abandon, already rigid to Waylon's keen that had his muscles close tightly around his slicked dick inside his body. Waylon gave Eddie one more hard kiss, cupping both sides of his face, as he let the man surge not him until he was at the peak of his completion. He felt it when Eddie came, from the way he felt his release swirl within him, and how Eddie silently endured the intense keen.

When they had finished, they took a while to come down from their adrenaline high, both sweaty and hot like the pigs they were. Eddie smiled evilly to himself, deciding to admit something to his Darling. "Do you see that, Darling?" Eddie pointed at the driver's side window. Waylon saw that it was cracked open slightly, only enough for fingers to pry through.

"ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!" Waylon gasped, covering his mouth in sheer horror. "People could've heard me, _Eddie!_" He put both his hands over his beet red face, utterly destroyed. "Do you know the sounds I made?! Kids could have heard me!"

Eddie shrugged to that. "I recorded everything on my phone, too."

"_Seriously?_" Waylon tried finding his clothes from the car floor. "God, the shame!"

"Pure, beautiful shame, Darling." Eddie gave Waylon a hard kiss to Waylon's cheek. "Happy afterlife to you."


End file.
